Former Russian diplomat: Putin has already lost the war

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already strategically lost the war, according to former Russian diplomat to the UN institutions in Geneva Boris Bondarev.

Bondarev was a diplomat in the Russian mission to the UN institutions in Geneva - the only one to resign in public protest because of Putin's war in Ukraine.

He said at the time of his resignation in an open letter that the war "is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also a serious crime against the Russian people."

Now, in an interview with Newsweek, the former diplomat adds that in his humble opinion, Putin has already strategically lost the war.

No thought of the future

"Putin lost everything. Everyone must understand that he is not smart. He is not a strategist, he is simply lucky that his colleagues were even more short-sighted than him, but as mentioned he is still short-sighted, even very much so," he noted in a telephone interview from Switzerland.

He also said that he believes Putin does not think at all about the future, nor about the possible consequences of the bloody war.

"He doesn't think about tomorrow, only about a few more hours in which he can stay in power, he has no plan."

"Putin certainly thought that the war would be over in a few days, as happened in Crimea in 2014 and believed that he would conquer Ukraine and the West would simply accept it."

Bondarev said that the only way for Russia to return to the international community is by ending Putin's regime.

"The President of Russia was and remains the most significant threat to global international peace. If it weren't for him, the Russians would never have thought of a war with the Ukrainians," according to him.