Ukraine prepares for major military development before negotiations

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are preparing for a decisive military event, former colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Oleg Starikov said in an interview with Ukrainian political scientist Vadim Karasev.

"Before the start of negotiations there must be an escalation,” Starikov said.

According to the former SBU colonel, the Ukrainian army expects the conflict to escalate in late summer or early autumn. He also expressed an opinion that should the Armed Forces of Ukraine fail to turn the tide of the conflict in August-September, Kyiv will agree to negotiations.

Putin: Ceasefire in Ukraine impossible

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would not be able to cease fire in Ukraine while hoping for positive steps from Kyiv.

Ending the conflict with Ukraine through intermediaries is impossible ether, the Russian leader said.

"We have always advocated negotiations, you know this well, we have never refused them. The only question is that it seems unlikely to me to finally end the conflict with the help of mediators and only through them,” the Russian president said.

A ceasefire in Ukraine is impossible without reaching agreements on negotiations first, Putin believes. According to the president, this is impossible as Kyiv may take advantage of the break to build up military equipment in order to continue the military conflict in the future. Russia cannot agree to a ceasefire only "in the hope that the other side will take some positive steps,” Putin concluded.

"We need to ensure that the other side agrees to take the steps that would be irreversible and acceptable for the Russian Federation. A ceasefire without reaching this agreement is impossible," Vladimir Putin said.