Applebaum: Putin continues war for ideological goals, not territory

by Anne Applebaum, the American-British journalist and author, a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian

Source: Applebaum on Substack

Next week, maybe, there might be a meeting between President Putin and President Trump. Once again, many people are speculating about the end of the war, what it would take for both sides to stop fighting. As it happens, this was the subject of a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a Russian journalist, Konstantin Eggert, who works for Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international media company. When I first met him, Konstantin worked for Kommersant, which used to be one of Russia’s best newspapers. Now, like so many other Russians I know, he’s in exile. The interview was made for DW’s Russian-language audience, but it’s been posted in English as well.

The most important argument is worth repeating, now, before the speculation grows more intense: This is not a war for territory. Putin doesn’t need another hundred square kilometers of Donetsk province. His goals are ideological. He wants to to destroy all of Ukraine, to make Ukraine part of a new Russian empire or sphere of influence and to use that victory to undermine NATO and the European Union. As recently as June 20, he said that “all of Ukraine” belongs to Russia. Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti, published two articles on July 30 arguing that “no one should remain alive in Ukraine” and “Ukraine will end very soon.” Right now, Putin still thinks he can achieve those goals. Until he is convinced otherwise, he will continue fighting.

This week, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, was once again in Moscow. No doubt there were discussions about money and energy. Maybe the Russian economy is more precarious than we think, and maybe Putin is looking for a temporary halt to the fighting, although he has never said so in public. Maybe, as some around Trump seem to believe, he can be bribed to stop fighting. But no ceasefire will be permanent until Russia understands that the war was a mistake, a revanchist, imperialist folly, and until Russia understands that Ukraine is a real country, not part of Russia. We still need solidarity, clarity, consistency and the pressure of real sanctions (not random sanctions on India) and continued military support for Ukraine in order to get there.