Borislav Bereza: Russian Economy Will Simply Collapse

Kiev is capable of regaining all the lost territories and plunging Russia into the abyss.

US President Donald Trump made a statement that Ukraine can regain all the lost territories and "maybe even go further." The White House chief also directly pointed to the dire state of the Russian economy and emphasized that a "window of opportunity" is now opening for Ukraine.

What exactly did Trump mean by this and what does it mean for Ukraine? About this site Charter97.org talked to Ukrainian politician, former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Boryslav Bereza:

- Trump simply stated the fact that Ukraine can really regain its territories, Ukraine can really repel the Russian offensive and end this war with a victory. It can. However, he didn't go on about what needs to be done to do that. It is very good that he changed his rhetoric to more pro-Ukrainian, but we know that he can change his statements very quickly, polarized. After all, just recently he was saying that Ukraine had lost its territories forever. He said that Vladimir Zelensky was the "worst president" with a 4% rating, and just a couple weeks after that he said that Zelensky was the best president.

Trump's polarized statements only indicate that he does not have a stable strategy for Ukraine, and this change may be due to some events, circumstances or news. Either way - this is a good signal for Ukraine, but until this becomes a stable vector in White House rhetoric and we hear similar from Marco Rubio, Pete Hagset and Pete Hagset and Steve Whitkoff and the rest of the people in Trump's inner circle, this will be one of his statements. I wouldn't be surprised if in 2-3 weeks he says something completely alternative.

It should also be pointed out that he reiterated his thesis that he wrote on social media and then when he met with Emmanuel Macron. I mean, we've already seen and heard his statement that "all patience has run out" and that he no longer wants to communicate with Vladimir Putin - and literally immediately afterward he met with him in Alaska. So once again: his statement is simply a pro-Ukrainian statement and a statement of fact that Ukraine can get its territories back. But whether there will be any actions besides these words - time will tell. At the moment we see only a loud and encouraging statement. Although it is not without a spoonful of tar, because he said that Ukraine can do it with the support of Europe and NATO, but he did not say anything about the support of the United States and about weapons and funding from the United States.

- Is the Russian economy really in crisis now, as Trump claims? What role do Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries and oil terminals play in this?"

- I believe that strikes on Russian refineries, on terminals, on oil storage facilities, on logistics chains, on hubs and ports have a very positive impact on the Russian economy. If we take it positively - it weakens the Russian economy, it does maximum damage to it and creates problems that make it more difficult to wage war. So I like everything so far.

What's more, the scaling of these strikes has already led to the fact that in Russia, not only have fuel shortages begun, but prices are rising where they are, and in some places it is no longer possible to purchase gasoline or diesel even with coupons. That is, we are now witnessing an actual reaction of the Russian market to the disruptions organized by Ukrainian drone strikes.

The second point is about the weak economy. To date, all experts, both Russian and Western, recognize that Elvira Nabiullina has been able to hold the ruble and the Russian economy has been able to rebuild itself on war footing. But what does that say? It tells us that the militarization of the economy has led to a decline in all other sectors. And it says that if the war ends, the Russian economy will simply collapse. It really depends only on the war. Everything else is secondary.

At the same time, Russia is losing its primacy in those areas where it had it. It has already fallen behind in the space race and is lagging behind in the technology development race. Russia is no longer a global player, but only a regional one. Global leadership remains only in Vladimir Putin's fantasies.

In addition, there is a growing hole in the budget, which has already exceeded even the planned deficit, and Russians cannot cover it yet. So things are bad with the economy. "The gasoline station", which used to be called "Russia's nuclear suitcase", just bought itself another machine gun, but the results of this purchase are only worsening the life of Russia itself.

- What kind of help from the West is most necessary for Ukraine today, not only to hold the front, but also to turn the situation around?

- Three components at the same time. The first is, of course, the intensification of sanctions pressure. The second is the refusal to cooperate with Russia, because by buying Russian oil, Russian gas, Russian diamonds, Russian goods, in fact Europe and America and the rest of the world are financing this war. And the third is to get as many weapons and shells for Ukraine as possible. By getting all three components, you can not just defeat Russia, you can just plunge it into the abyss.

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