A retired general and former NATO strategist said he saw no prospect of a negotiated peace in Russia’s war against neighboring Ukraine, and complained about what he called “deplorable delays” in arms shipments to Kyiv, Thursday please reported

“There will be no (negotiated) diplomatic solution with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Klaus Wittmann, a retired brigadier general, said in an interview with German media outlet Mediengruppe Bayern published Thursday.

“He may not be irrational, as some say, but he is obsessed,” Wittman said. According to the former NATO strategist, Putin wants to take revenge and be recognized as a great leader.

Wittmann, who teaches modern history at the University of Potsdam, partly blames German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for Ukraine’s hesitant counteroffensive.

“At the beginning of the offensive, we quickly delivered anti-tank missiles and air defense equipment, and today we do a lot for air defense. But, unfortunately, there are annoying delays,” Wittmann said.

If, for example, heavy weapons had been delivered earlier, the Russian army would not have had time to prepare and expand the lines of defense, he said.

“If now we sit aside and criticize the fact that Ukraine is not making adequate progress, we should bear in mind the fact that we bear part of the responsibility for it,” the former NATO strategist also stated (Agerpres).