Andrey Illarionov: If Georgia does not take steps to strengthen its self-defense or collective defense together with Ukraine or other Western countries, it is likely to fall victim to Putin's aggression

"If Georgia does not take steps to strengthen its self-defense or collective defense together with Ukraine or other Western countries, it is likely to fall victim to Putin's aggression," Andrey Illarionov, a former economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, told PalitraNews.

He spoke about the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to him, there is no sign that Putin has changed his goal towards Ukraine.

"Putin said that the goal of the Russian army is to denationalize and demilitarize Ukraine, that all this is being done in a planned way.

As for his statements and what we have recently heard from the Russian authorities, as well as the actions we are seeing from the Russian military, it is clear that there is no sign that Putin has changed his long-term, main goal, that is to destroy the statehood of Ukraine and to destroy Ukrainians as a nation," Illarionov said.

He said the military action would go beyond Donbass because Putin's goal had not been neutralized.

"What will be the end of all this? Putin, as the head of state, will probably be over, or there will be a military disaster and destruction of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil and outside Ukraine. Of course, this will lead to changes in the military-political nature of present-day Russia, because the armed forces are the axis of the current Russian regime. It's a bit difficult to make an accurate prediction of what will happen next," Illarionov said.

According to him, Ukraine will only win if it receives military assistance from the Western world; Ukraine today receives this assistance in part, but not to the extent that it is asking from the Western partners.

"If NATO, Western countries fulfill all the requests, deliver all the weapons, the military operations will continue in Ukraine. It will not be a war with a quick end," Illarionov said.

He also answered the question in what case Putin's army may invade Georgia again.

"I hope this will not happen, but if Putin manages to win in Ukraine, then the next victim would be Moldova, first a part of Transnistria and then all Moldova, because Moldova has virtually no significant military resources. In December last year, Putin issued an ultimatum to the West, NATO, the United States, when he demanded that Ukraine and Georgia not become members of NATO. This is a demand that Russia made not only in December, but also in January, February and March of this year. Therefore, there is no indication that Putin has changed his approach to Ukraine or Georgia. This means that if Georgia does not take steps to strengthen its self-defense or collective defense together with Ukraine or other Western countries, it is likely to fall victim to Putin's aggression," Illarionov said.