Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said in a press conference Wednesday that the war could continue in Ukraine for some time to come while Russia tries to expand its borders, is "trying to see himself" as a Peter the Great by taking control of more territories, Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, told Newsmax on Thursday.
"We will not let him do that," Rudik told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Our goal would be to end the war as soon as possible because every single day we continue it, we know that the support that we are receiving is being drained."
But the goal isn't only to end the war, but for Ukraine to win it, said Rudik.
"The most important [thing] is that Russia cannot attack us again," she said. "It will be useless if in two years Russia will gather its forces and will be able to launch another attack, maybe not only on Ukraine but on other surrounding countries."
Rudik pointed out that the invasion of Ukraine is not the first war Russia has launched over the 30 years, noting that it still has forces in Georgia and Moldova, as well as Ukraine.
"What was important in Putin's speech was that he is trying to get more territories for Russia and continue doing that until he is stopped, and we aim to stop him," she added.
Rudik also on Thursday said the winter weather is proving an added hardship in Ukraine, as 50% of the country's energy infrastructure has been either damaged or destroyed by Russia.
"We are right now not only counting the days of war since the beginning, but we are also counting the days of winter because it's so critical for us to go through it and make sure that people survive," she said. "I'm a healthy woman. I know that I'm taking it as a challenge, not as a tragedy, but for people with children, for the elderly, it could be a really, really dangerous situation."
In addition to the electricity being out in many homes, there is also no heat or running water, Rudik said.
"Our main goal right now for all of us is to get this humanitarian support, generators, heating stations," she said. "The collective effort needs to be taken to support our citizens to survive the winter."
Meanwhile, Rudik said, while responding to reports about the Ukrainian military launching drone strikes into Russia, that her country must make sure Russia loses the resources to attack again, including the ability to launch planes over Ukrainian territory and produce more weapons and supplies.
"Our efforts will be directed into making Russia unable to continue the work, and this is the key goal right now on everything that's going on," she said. "I know that a lot of people in America want to see some sort of peaceful resolution to this war while still supporting the war effort itself."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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