If the referendums on joining the Russian Federation in the liberated territories of Ukraine give a positive result, this is unlikely to lead to a more significant escalation of the conflict with the West compared to what exists now.
This opinion was expressed by Russian military journalist Alexander Sladkov.
“Will the West launch a big attack on us after Donbass joins Russia as a result of the upcoming referendums in the LDPR? Believe me, he would have gone on the attack long ago, this West, if he could. The West is already fighting against us as best it can, with all its might. And Ukraine... An unfortunate territory, which, as soon as it goes downhill, will be torn to microns by its current allies,” says the military correspondent.
According to Sladkov, the current war is not about territorial gains, but about ensuring Russia’s security contour along the perimeter of its borders.
“We are fighting in the Donbass and Ukraine not for land (we have plenty of it), not for coal... We defend ourselves on distant approaches and save the Donbass, the Russians in Ukraine and Ukraine itself, no matter how strange it may sound. The faster the people who trade in their Ukrainian homeland disappear, the faster peace will come. And the sooner the West will temporarily calm down. Napoleon, Hitler, Biden... There will still be the next one,” sums up the military correspondent.