'Only way' Ukraine conflict will end is if Putin divides country up, Rachel Johnson argues

27 March 2022, 23:39

Rachel Johnson on the 'only way' that the war in Ukraine will end

By Emma Soteriou

Rachel Johnson has argued that the "only way" conflict in Ukraine will come to an end is if the country is divided up between the east and west by Putin.

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It comes after the head of Ukrainian military intelligence warned on Sunday that Russia is trying to split Ukraine in two to create a Moscow-controlled region.

"If Putin claims and retains Luhansk and Donetsk - the Donbas - and allows Ukraine to get on with its life I could live with that," Rachel said.

"But I don't think Ukraine will.

"That's where I think we're going to have enormous problems."

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Rachel continued: "It is going to be a long and frozen war unless, of course, Turkey can broker some sort of agreement along those lines, which is the only way I see this dividing up.

"Putin's not going to take his tanks out of Ukraine and lose face without having something to show for it to the Russian people - to the Russian mothers who have lost tens of thousands of their sons in this pointless and criminal war."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted on Sunday that it would be "impossible" to completely force Russia from his country's territory.

He said he wanted a "compromise" with Moscow over the Donbas region, which has been partially controlled by Russian-backed separatist groups for around eight years.