Putin's ex-advisor says there's only one way to stop him

According to one of his former advisers, Russian President Vladimir Putin can only be defeated in one way.

Two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 72-year-old leader shows no signs of backing down. Most recently, he rejected a temporary peace deal proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

While some critics have described Putin’s actions as erratic, his former economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov—who worked under him from 2000 to 2005—sees it differently. Speaking to Newsmax TV, Illarionov argued that Putin is anything but unpredictable.

“He is concentrated, calculated, and persistent,” Illarionov said. “He knows what he wants and is trying to implement policy to achieve his goals.”

However, despite his strategic approach, Illarionov insists that Putin is not invincible.

“The only thing that can really stop Putin in Ukraine and in Europe is resistance,” he explained. “Resistance from the Ukrainian military and the heroic resistance of all Ukrainian people against this aggression.”

So far, over 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict, yet Putin remains undeterred.

This brings renewed focus to the ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, confirmed that the Kremlin has given “serious” consideration to Trump’s proposed terms but is still not satisfied.

In an interview with International Affairs magazine, Ryabkov claimed the proposal lacks a key element: a direct call from Trump for Ukraine to end the war.

“All that we have today is an attempt to find a certain scheme that would first allow us to achieve a ceasefire, as it is conceived by the Americans,” Ryabkov said, as reported by Newsweek.

“But then it moves toward other models and schemes, which, as far as we can judge, fail to address our main demand – the root causes of this conflict.”

He continued: “This is completely absent, and it must be overcome. We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we cannot accept them as they are.

“We have our own carefully developed priorities and approaches, which are being refined – including by our negotiating team at the recent talks with the Americans in Riyadh,” he added.

What Ryabkov avoids mentioning, of course, is Putin’s long-standing ambition to bring Ukraine under Russian control – something the world has repeatedly rejected.