Russia aims for the military, economic, and political exhaustion of Ukraine during the military confrontation, expressed Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum (KSF), Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014–2016) Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
"Putin believes he has sufficient resources to strike Ukraine with ballistic and cruise missiles. His goal is to cause a blackout and freeze Ukrainians this winter. Second, he believes that through normal democratic processes in Europe, extreme right-wing, effectively pro-Russian forces will prevail in various EU member states. And third, he also understands that he has an ally – China," Yatsenyuk said during a special KSF discussion titled "How the West should really respond to Russia's escalation."
Russia, according to him, currently retains the ability to finance the war: Russian budget revenues decreased by approximately 7%, but this reduction is smaller than expected at the beginning of the year, as the growth of global oil prices amid the war in the Middle East allowed Russia to compensate for part of the losses and continue funding the war.
The Head of KSF notes that for Ukraine to win the war against Russia, both short-term and long-term solutions are required, including strengthening air defense, providing long-range and ballistic missiles, as well as stable financing.
"Debates continue regarding frozen Russian assets. We understand there are certain reservations from Belgium. But Russia is committing an act of aggression. These $300 billion must be confiscated," Yatsenyuk said, emphasizing the need to secure resources for Ukraine for at least three years, which will send a signal to Russia that partners are not backing down and are strengthening support for Ukraine.
Special KSF discussions are held as part of Kyiv Security Forum: Deep Strike project on current events and key trends in security, economy, and Ukraine's foreign policy.
