President Putin's Allies Say Ukraine's War Could Last For Decades

Russian military illustration. (Source: Russian Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin's main ally said the war in Ukraine could last for decades, with a long fighting period surrounded by a ceasefire, the Russian news agency reported.

The news agency said former President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, spoke during a visit to Vietnam. Medvedev is known to often provide hardline comments, with last month describing Ukrainian authorities as an infection.

"This conflict will last very long, most likely decades," RIA quoted Medvedev as saying, as reported by Reuters on May 26.

"As long as there is such a power, there will be, say, three years of ceasefire, two years of conflict, and everything will repeat itself," he continued, repeating Moscow's claim that Ukraine was a Nazi country.

Earlier, Medvedev in January said, if Russia was defeated, it could trigger a nuclear war.

As previously reported, Russia was able to continue its military operations in Ukraine for a long time, said Head of the German Federal Intelligence Agency (BND) Bruno Kahl.

"Russia, as before, remains able to lead... (military operations in particular) for a long time," the DPA news agency quoted the intelligence chief as saying, as reported by TASS.

Furthermore, Kahl also said intelligence agencies did not see the conflict in Ukraine having rocked the Russian state authorities.

On the same occasion, Kahl did not see the weakening of Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration, related to the protracted war in Ukraine.

"We don't see any loopholes in Putin's (President, red) system," Kahl said, citing DW.

Kahl argues that public criticism of war management is a regular dispute in Russian society and does not pose a threat to President Putin's government.

"Russia is still able to launch a long-range war," he said, pointing to newly recruited soldiers.

Kahl added that Russia also has sufficient equipment and ammunition. However, he assessed that Russia also has several vulnerabilities, including the performance of the armed forces.