Russia may be "in some ways" agreeing to a truce with Ukraine, but it will continue forward with its strikes while the talks progress because it looks like "it could win this war," retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Darin Gaub, a senior geopolitical strategist, told Newsmax on Friday.
"While negotiations are ongoing, both sides are going to continue to conflict until something is agreed upon that would end it," Gaub said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "But it also tells me that though Russia is in some ways agreeing to these kinds of things, they're going to continue forward because, frankly, there's no reason for them not to."
Russia, he added, has the advantage and the forces to win against Ukraine.
"They are ultimately looking like they could win this war, whatever that looks like, to define what win means," he said. "But they're going to continue to secure as much land as they possibly can in anticipation of potentially trying to say, this is what we want to hold on to, this is the deal we're willing to make, and they're going to want to move that border west to make sure it stays there."
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, after a summit in Paris to strengthen support for Ukraine, said that both France and Britain will continue to move forward with their plans to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine.
But Gaub said that the idea of NATO nations moving into Ukraine is "part of the reason why we're in this conflict in the first place."
He added that making such announcements is "agitating" Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia, as the reason it invaded Ukraine was because it was threatening to join NATO.
Instead, Europe's nations need to worry about "the invasion of their homeland by illegal immigration," said Gaub, noting the situation is worse than what the United States is facing.
"That's their priority," he said. "That's what they should be focused on rather than thinking they need to step into Ukraine with NATO forces."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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