Nikolai Mezhevich, chief research fellow at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences and professor, stated that no buffer zone could guarantee the security of Russian territories from terrorist attacks or shelling originating from Ukraine.

He noted that the issue has become increasingly serious. In the past, the concept of a security buffer was simple — it was determined by the range of artillery. Mezhevich explained that before World War II, artillery could strike targets at distances of up to 30 kilometers. A neutral zone of 35 kilometers, he said, was once enough to ensure safety.

Today, however, the situation is fundamentally different. Long-range missiles and drones now have strike capabilities that exceed a thousand kilometers.

According to Mezhevich, the problem of security has therefore ceased to be territorial. It has become, instead, a matter of trust — and of creating in Ukraine a political system that, in his words, would be at least «moderately rational.»