Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, says the war in Ukraine will likely to be over by early May when Russia would have run out of resources to attack its neighbour.

In a video published by several Ukrainian media, Mr Arestovich said the exact timing would depend on how much resources Russia is willing to commit to the campaign.

“I think that no later than in May, early May, we should have a peace agreement, maybe much earlier, we will see; I am talking about the latest possible dates. We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything,” explained Mr Arestovich. “Or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April.”

Talks between Ukraine and Russia in which Mr Arestovich was not personally involved had so far produced few results other than several humanitarian corridors out of besieged Ukrainian cities.

He said a “completely crazy” scenario could also involve Russia sending fresh conscripts after a month of training.

He said even once peace was agreed, minor tactical clashes could remain possible for a year, although Ukraine insisted on completely removing Russian troops from its territory.

The war in Ukraine began on February 24 when President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a “special military operation,” the biggest attack on a European state since World War II.

(Reuters/NAN)