Putin wants to end the war ‘as soon as possible’ with Russia’s situation now ‘problematic’ says Turkey’s Erdogan as former FSB colonel warns further military defeats will ‘finish off’ Kremlin leader
- The Turkish leader made the stunning declaration last night to US outlet PBS
- Erdogan claimed Putin gave him the impression that he wants the war to end
- It comes as a leading Russian nationalist said Putin’s grip on power will soon slip
- More economic or military defeats in Ukraine will see the regime fall, he said
- But Putin today doubled down on his exploits, railing against US attempts at ‘global domination’ and waxing lyrical about Russia’s ‘sovereign course’
Vladimir Putin wants to end the ‘problematic’ war in Ukraine ‘as soon as possible’, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed.
The Turkish leader made the stunning declaration last night to US outlet PBS after sharing ‘extensive discussions’ with his warmongering Russian counterpart at a summit in Uzbekistan last week.
‘He is actually showing me that he’s willing to end this as soon as possible,’ Mr Erdogan said.
‘That was my impression, because the way things are going right now are quite problematic.’
The Turk’s comments were made less than 24 hours before the United Nations’ massive annual summit kicked off this morning in New York, where the war in Ukraine will be an ‘unavoidable’ topic at the top of the agenda, chief EU diplomat Josep Borrell said.
It comes as highly influential Russian nationalist Igor Girkin declared that further economic struggles or military losses brought about by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine could spell the end of Putin’s regime.
The former FSB officer, a chief architect in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and pro-Russian rebellion in the Donbas, said: ‘All it will take is an outbreak of inflation or a few more military defeats to finish him off.’
Vladimir Putin (right) wants to end the war in Ukraine ‘as soon as possible’, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) has claimed (both pictured in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 16, 2022
Igor ‘Strelkov’ Girkin, a former FSB officer and hardliner Russian nationalist, warned Putin could see his grip on power slip with further defeats in Ukraine
Erdogan also said yesterday that Russia should not be allowed to maintain any Ukrainian territory it had claimed amid the war, up to and including Crimea.
‘If a peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, the returning of the land that was invaded will become really important. This is what is expected,’ Erdogan affirmed in a blatant disapproval of Putin’s recent military exploits.
Russian positions in Ukraine were fundamentally weakened roughly 10 days ago when a lightning Ukrainian counteroffensive broke a months-long stalemate in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian forces have since gone on to recoup thousands of square miles of territory and are now said to be preparing fresh attacks on Russian-occupied regions of the Donbas.
Putin last week played down the defeat, claiming that his ‘special military operation’ would still be executed as planned.
But Russian-installed governments in occupied Ukraine today called for referendums to plough ahead with a formal annexation, while Russia’s parliament introduced laws to increase punishments for disobedient soldiers and allow for mass mobilisation – moves which smack of desperation to regain control of a rapidly changing battlefield.
Girkin, who was occupied a leading role in training, arming and orchestrating the rebellion of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, told his more than half a million subscribers on Telegram that any further defeats could see Putin’s regime collapse.
The former Putin loyalist-turned critic has since June warned of a potential collapse in Russian positions in Ukraine amid bitter fighting and has repeatedly urged the Kremlin to introduce a country-wide mobilisation of armed forces and mass conscription to overwhelm the Ukrainians.
Igor ‘Strelkov’ Girkin, Russian army veteran and former FSB officer who played a key role in the annexation of Crimea in 2014, has been overtly critical of Putin’s management of the conflict in Ukraine (a Russian nationalist flag is pictured in the background)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech as he attends a ceremony to receive credentials from newly appointed foreign ambassadors to Russia, at the Kremlin, Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said the war in Ukraine will be an ‘unavoidable’ topic at the top of the agenda at this week’s United Nations summit in New York
‘You could say that the battle for the initiative that I have been talking about since June has been won completely by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,’ Girkin said following the mass Russian retreat from the Kharkiv region last weekend.
‘I am 99 per cent, perhaps 100 per cent, confident in our defeat.’
Putin however appeared to double down on his war in Ukraine today and blasted the US for its perceived attempts to ‘preserve its global domination’.
Giving a speech in the Kremlin in Moscow, Putin said that ‘the objective development toward a multipolar world faces resistance of those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything – Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.’
He added that ‘the hegemon has succeeded in doing so for quite a long time, but it can’t go on forever… regardless of the developments in Ukraine.’
Putin has repeatedly cast his decision to send troops into Ukraine as a response to alleged Western encroachment on Russia’s vital security interests.
The Russian leader described Western sanctions against Russia over its action in Ukraine as part of efforts by the US and its allies to strengthen their positions, but charged that that they have backfired against their organisers and also hurt poor countries.
‘As for Russia, we won’t deviate from our sovereign course,’ Putin said.
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