The Bottom Line

A view from Moscow: Ukraine war will get worse

Russian political scientist Andrey Kortunov sees no chance for a peaceful settlement to the Ukraine war any time soon.

The war in Ukraine is not going as planned for Russia, and Ukraine currently has the upper hand on the ground. Under these circumstances, experts say there is no way Russia will seek to end the fighting.

In a wide-ranging conversation with host Steve Clemons, Andrey Kortunov, one of Russia’s foremost political scientists, paints a bleak picture of the Ukraine war.

Kortunov says the real issue Russia is grappling with is: does it want long-term isolation from the West, or compromise and reintegration? Everything else falls into place depending on the outcome of that fateful decision.