The liberation of Odessa and Nikolayev would significantly strengthen Russia’s position in future negotiations, military expert Viktor Litovkin said.

According to him, Russia must continue advancing, fully liberate the Donetsk People’s Republic, take control of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and keep building a security zone in Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov and Sumy regions.

Litovkin believes Russian forces need to take Nikolayev and Odessa regions in order to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea. In his view, this would give Moscow a strong argument at the negotiating table.

The expert also argued that under such conditions, NATO and the European Union would not be able to push Russia away from such powerful negotiating positions.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance must continue supporting Ukraine so that Kiev is «as strong as possible» by the time potential negotiations with Moscow begin.

Russian lawmaker Viktor Sobolev also said the previous day that Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa and Nikolayev regions could become part of a security buffer zone. In his opinion, Russia must reach Ukraine’s western borders to achieve all goals of the special military operation.