Ukraine has already won war, while Putin is stuck on front line, Italian Defence Minister Crosetto says
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that Ukraine has already won the war against Russia when the current situation is assessed against the predictions made at the start of the full-scale invasion.
He made the statement in an interview with ANSA on the sidelines of a summit in London attended by the defence chiefs of the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada, according to Censor.NET.
From the "Kyiv in a week" plan to the exhaustion of the Russian army
Crosetto stressed that analysts and world leaders had significantly underestimated the potential of the Ukrainian nation and its Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022.
"Four years ago, everyone thought Russia would reach Kyiv within a week," the Italian minister noted, recalling that even Washington had drawn up plans for the emergency evacuation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the start of the full-scale invasion.
The reality, however, proved radically different. In his view, the Russian occupying forces have now lost their operational momentum and are suffering catastrophic personnel losses:
"Ukraine still exists; it is strong and is making the war more difficult for (Russian dictator — ed.) Vladimir Putin every day. From its perspective, it has already won because it never intended to invade Russia; it is merely defending itself."
- According to the Italian Defence Ministry, the Russian army’s monthly irrecoverable and medical casualties on the battlefield remain steady at around 30,000 troops. Crosetto highlighted the key role of Ukrainian unmanned systems in neutralising the enemy’s numerical superiority.
When will the war end?
Commenting on the possible terms and diplomatic paths towards ending the hostilities, Crosetto said the first genuine indication of Moscow’s readiness for peace would be at least a brief halt to the bombardment of Ukrainian cities:
"The war will end when Russia stops bombing Ukraine for at least 24 or 48 hours, something it has not done for even a single day since 2022," the Italian defence minister concluded.
