General Hodges: Putin will not stop the war because he has no “retirement plan”

Former commander of U.S. Army Europe General Ben Hodges has explained why Vladimir Putin has no incentive to end the war against Ukraine.

According to him, the continuation of the conflict is necessary for Putin to retain power. The interview was published by Ukrinform.

In Hodges’s assessment, Putin has no “retirement plan”: he understands that if the war stops, he will be killed — for having destroyed Russia, its reputation and its army, and for having driven away buyers of Russian oil and gas.

The general also commented on calls heard in the West to give Putin an “off-ramp.” Hodges categorically rejected that framing.

“He has an off-ramp: he can withdraw his troops. It is not the West’s job to give him a way out of the mess he created and caused so much harm with. I believe the West must now be committed to helping Ukraine defeat Russia, which means returning to the 1991 borders,” the retired U.S. Army general said.

At the same time, Hodges noted that Putin does not currently feel cornered.

The general also addressed the topic of nuclear threats separately. In his view, it is not in Russia’s interest to actually use nuclear weapons — the only benefit for the Kremlin lies in threatening their use. Hodges stated that “most governments are frightened by the idea of nuclear war.” He nevertheless warned that the threat cannot be ignored, since the Kremlin has no moral restraints and “clearly doesn’t care how many innocent people will die.”

Previously, Hodges had stated that the war in Ukraine is unlikely to end in 2026, and insisted on the need to increase pressure on Moscow to bring the fighting to a halt.