An former United States Army general has warned that Vladimir Putin has already revealed what his plan is for war - and it doesn't stop with conquering Ukraine.
Retired US general Wesley Clark, who served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO before his retirement, said the Russian President's objective could be the invasion of the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - as well as eastern Europe.
He told CNN : “[Putin] published what he wanted back in December. He wants Ukraine. He wants the Baltic states. He wants control over eastern Europe.
“He wants to shatter NATO and he wants the United States out. This is for all the marbles."
This comes after military analysts confirmed that Russian forces were retreating from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, however General Clark warned that this was simply a tactic to 'disarm the West'.
“All [Putin] is trying to do right now is stall. He’d like to stall Western reinforcement of Ukraine," he said. "He’d like to have us emotionally, morally disarmed to think that’s all he wants - but it isn’t."
He continued: “Ukraine is just the current battlefield but if Ukrainians defeat Russia on this battlefield, everything changes.
“So the best way to protect NATO, the best way to protect the international system is to give Ukraine the assistance it says it needs and let them handle Russia on this battlefield.”
And Putin wants to win in Ukraine by a specific date in May. US officials said the alleged war criminal wants to coincide a victory with the parade in Red Square on May 9, which is held to mark the Nazis' surrender in WWII.
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