German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that the Russian authorities have long been planning an attack on Ukraine, and Putin decided on the invasion at least a year before it.
He told about this in an interview with CBS.
"He is the leader of a very large country with a lot of people, with a lot of means, he is really fighting this brutal war and he has been preparing for it for a very long time. I think the decision to fight this war was made a year before it started, or maybe earlier, because he was preparing for it. And therefore he will be able to continue the war for a very long time," Scholz said.
He added that Putin expects a long war — he is ready for it.
- The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its report that the authorities are preparing the countryʼs economy for a protracted war with Ukraine. Currently, the Kremlin is trying to mobilize industry to support the army, for this the State Duma of the Russian Federation submitted an amendment to the federal laws on the support of the armed forces, which provides for "special measures in the economic sphere".
- At the end of June, President Zelensky told the G7 leaders about plans to end the war by the end of the year.