E-Paper
Russia general says Ukraine just ‘stepping stone’ to invade Europe: ‘Won’t stop'
Russia-Ukraine War: Vladimir Putin promoted lieutenant general Andrey Mordvichev to the rank of colonel-general.
A key Russian general who Russian president Vladimir Putin promoted this week said that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is a mere "stepping stone" to further conflict with Europe. Vladimir Putin promoted lieutenant general Andrey Mordvichev to the rank of colonel-general after he had already been serving in the role of commanding the central military district and Russian central grouping of forces in Ukraine.
In an interview with Moscow's state-run Russia-1, Andrey Mordvichev said that he believes Vladimir Putin's war will last quite a long time and expand in the future.
"I think there's still plenty of time to spend. It is pointless to talk about a specified period. If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer," the general said.
"Ukraine is only a stepping stone?" the interviewer then asked.
"Yes, absolutely. It is only the beginning," he responded adding that the war “will not stop here.”
Earlier, some of Vladimir Putin's allies have floated the possibility of expanding the Kremlin's invasion into NATO countries, including Poland and several other Eastern European nations.
This comes as Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky again rejected a suggestion that Ukraine would need to cede territory to Russia to end the war. “Did you see any compromises from Putin in other issues?” the Ukrainian leader told CNN as Russia wrapped up elections in the four Ukrainian regions — Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson — that Moscow annexed a year ago.
