Russia's continued military involvement in Ukraine is driven by a desire to maintain its status as a great power comparable to the United States and China.

“If the war ends tomorrow, what will Putin do with his 1.5 million soldiers? He will not want to stop at Ukraine” - Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto ▪️ In an interview with the BBC, he emphasized that ending the war could result in problems for Putin within Russia itself. Crosetto recalled that a significant part of the Russian budget is allocated to weapons; Putin is increasing the number of his army to 1.5 million. “As he continues to step up his efforts, I get the impression that he will not want to stop with Ukraine. That is why Europe and NATO are preparing,” he said. ▪️ According to Crosetto, Moscow does not want to accept the fact that it “is not a great power on a par with the United States or China.” “Russia would like to become the third participant at this table,” the minister sums up. #Ukraine #News #UkraineWar

Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto: "Russia attacked Ukraine, it attacked Crimea, Georgia, if we want to go further back, Afghanistan. So in the Russian mentality, there is the idea of attacking in order to occupy. Most of the Russian budget goes toward investments in weapons or the military. So if the war ended tomorrow, what would Putin do with 1.5 million soldiers? He himself would face internal problems if he stopped the war tomorrow morning." #AureFreePress #UkraineWar