The goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not to own Ukraine but to control it, or at least to keep it as a failed state, Ukrainian journalist Peter Zalmayev told N1.

According to CNN, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday predicted that Russia “will move in” to Ukraine and acknowledged disunity within NATO over how to respond to a “minor incursion.”

While Biden argued that “it's very important that we keep everyone in NATO on the same page,” he noted that “there are differences in NATO as to what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens.”

According to Zalmayev, Biden’s statements were “unhelpful.”

He argued that part of Putin’s strategy in Ukraine from the very beginning “not just to keep the West divided over issues of internal and external policy, but to widen this divide.”

“And it seems like Mr Biden is giving him what he wants,” he said.

As for a possible invasion, Zalmayev said that “there is a full range of things, and even something as unfathomable as a full invasion, a siege of Kyiv, is also something that has been mentioned.”

Zalmayev said he does not believe that such an outcome is very realistic, but that it is not impossible.

“Everything is being considered and everything is possible. Vladimir Putin thrives in an atmosphere of uncertainty, in a sort of grey zone. He likes to defeat expectations and he does what people do not expect him to do.”

The journalist noted that Russia is wary of “crippling sanctions, including being disconnected from SWIFT” over Ukraine and of occupying a country of more than 40 million people and keeping it under control, which is very costly.

“As far as conquering the rest and making this annexation final and official, like what he did in Crimea, that seems to be a bit more realistic. But that would also invite sanctions,” he said.

“Putin does not want to own Ukraine, he wants to keep it under control. And if that doesn’t happen, he wants to keep it as a failed state, so he can show it to his electorate and say ‘look, this is what democracy gives you.’ The last thing he wants is a thriving Ukraine, a Ukraine as a member of the EU, and a Ukraine as a member of NATO,” he said.

The full interview in English can be viewed above.