“Freeing the Donbass” is Moscow’s primary goal. But what can happen next?

LONDON – “Free the Donbass is the priority objective, ”the Russian Foreign Minister said yesterday Sergei Lavrov. The statement suggests that Moscow also has other, secondary objectives: he himself mentions one, the “demilitarization” of Ukraine, already indicated by Vladimir Putin three months ago at the beginning of the war. But the outcome of the conflict may depend on the battle in the Donbass.