Any negotiations which have taken place between the two parties have been accompanied by unrealistic demands and signals from Russia, all ample demonstration that as of now Russia has no interest in achieving peace, Vare went on.

The most recent talks, in Istanbul, which lasted an hour and only achieved another prisoner of war swap, twinned with the later messages coming from Kremlin mouthpieces, are a clear sign that Russia currently does not want to conclude any peace agreement with Ukraine, Vare, who spoke to "Esimene stuudio" and summed up the Russian position as: "We want to carry out our summer offensive campaign, then we'll see."

Part of that offensive is already underway in Ukraine, he added.

The change in presidency in the U.S. has also acted as an impetus here.

"A major hope [on Russia's part] has been placed on the fact that [former U.S. president Joe] Biden's arms aid package is set to run out in June, while a new one isn't even on the table in Washington, which from Russia's point of view means that the Ukrainians will go hungry again, just like they did for half a year when no aid was given," Vare said.

Last Sunday's Spiderweb op carried out by Ukraine damaged strategic bombers which may have been earmarked for the Russian summer offensive, he continued.

However while the Ukrainians inflicted significant damage, this does not prevent Russia from continuing to make use of its strategic air force, Vare noted. "Perhaps only the quantities and capabilities will fall, but continue it will."

It is also unwise to hold out hopes of Russia not planning a show of force in its retaliation against Ukraine, he added.

"Let us not delude ourselves. First off, based on the things Russia lives by and also how it conducts its politics – in this context, a brutal and forceful response is required. And none of the experts doubt that this will be put together, within a couple of weeks. Preparations had been made for that as well. The Ukrainian version of events is that those aircraft were being mustered at those bases [which were attacked] in preparation for a larger wave of strikes against Ukraine, using air-to-ground cruise missiles," Vare added.

"Some preparations were underway – but how much of that can be realized after that extensive damage is another question, though they will come up with something. The thinking is even that they want to retaliate for it by using ballistic missiles," he continued.

All the same, Operation Spiderweb inflicted major damage on Russia, and the true picture of its economic impact will only become clear later, thanks to the "madness" the attack caused continuing in Russia, Vare said.

"Overreaction is also one of the hallmarks of the system there – everyone has to justify their existence. This is a lunatic asylum, what has been going on there, to this day," Vare concluded.

Ukraine on Sunday launched an attack using 117 drones smuggled into the country in truck containers, each with a single human operator, to damage as many as 40 Russian strategic bombers including Tu-95s.

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