” By the time the Russians have control of Donbass and control of Crimea, they will have achieved two-thirds of the results they originally declared. The third would be not to let Ukraine join NATO. This result has in fact been obtained but which will be consolidated by negotiation. We hope that once the operation in the Donbass and Mariupol is concluded, the discussion can be reopened because the alternative would be an endless war that sooner or later would involve us ”. General Marco Bertolini, former commander of the IOC, told Adnkronos about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Read also ” In the initial planning this should not have been the second phase of the war – he explains – I deduce from the forces that were put in place that were not sufficient to proceed with the invasion of Ukraine but were very minor. Which means that the level of ambition was much lower: to secure the Donbass, to create a link between Crimea and the Donbass, then to ensure that Ukraine does not join NATO. I believe that in the plans of the Russians they wanted to reach these objectives by negotiation – he says – Once the negotiations were skipped, this second phase was necessary: the Russians will try to achieve what they want ‘manu militare’ even if it will not be an easy undertaking ‘ ‘.’ ‘The negotiation did not take place because, not so much Zelensky, but above all his inspirers obviously do not want it – explains Bertolini – In fact they are pushing for a final battle, Von der Leyen also said that we must reach victory and victory means that there is no negotiation but that the opponent surrenders, assuming there is an opponent since we are not at war ”. As for the state of the war, General Bertolini explains: “ I seem to have understood that the neo-Nazis of Azov are in the Mariupol steel plant, in a fairly restricted area and that they are not controlling the city which is now under Russian control. . Now we will see if they will come out, having no more supplies, or if they will hold out until the end. The problem is that there are also civilians inside, which could be a significant complication. Furthermore, questions of a motivational, moral and psychological nature that concern the individual fighters also come into play. No predictions can be made about this. Surely up to now they have fought hard, they have behaved like brave ”.