West can crush Putin & force him to negotiating table…but only with KGB mindset & Cold War tactics, says ex-Nato adviser

THE West can crush Russia's war machine and force Putin to the negotiating table with a Cold War-style strategy, a former Nato adviser has warned. Ian Brzezinski, a former deputy assistant US Secretary of Defense for Europe and Nato policy, believes Moscow is defeatable in Ukraine, but only if the West fully leverages its economic and military dominance. Instead of seeking a negotiated settlement, he says the focus should be on overwhelming Russia's capacity to continue the war.

Brzezinski told The Sun: "I feel the Russians will continue the war and have the capacity to drive forward for quite a long time. I do think that Russia is defeatable in this war. "And to do that doesn't mean that one should run to Russia asking for a deal to end the war. One has to get into the Soviet mindset.". Putin, he explains, still views the world through a Cold War lens, and the key to forcing him to the table is shifting the "correlation of forces" so drastically that he has no choice but to seek peace.

This strategy echoes the high-stakes power plays of the 20th century, where military posturing and economic pressure dictated geopolitical outcomes. To accelerate that breaking point, Brzezinski argues, the West must apply the same tactics that helped undermine the Soviet Union. That includes ramping up military support for Ukraine, tightening the economic stranglehold on Russia, and launching an aggressive information campaign targeting Moscow’s political elite.

The goal is to force Putin to focus inward, worrying more about his own survival than his expansionist ambitions. During the Cold War, the West used economic warfare to weaken the USSR, restricting trade, limiting technology access, and driving down oil prices to cripple its economy. A military arms race forced the Soviets into unsustainable defence spending, with initiatives like Reagan’s “Star Wars” straining their resources.

Psychological and information warfare fuelled internal dissent - Radio Free Europe, underground publications, and support for dissident movements helped destabilise Soviet control. The expert argues that similar tactics - tightening sanctions, ramping up military aid to Ukraine, and using modern propaganda to undermine Putin’s grip - could force Russia into economic and political exhaustion, just as the USSR collapsed.

The ex-Nato adviser, now a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group, has spent decades shaping defence policy. In the early 1990s, he advised Ukraine’s National Security Council, Foreign Ministry, and Parliament. He also worked on NATO strategy at the Pentagon and served as a consultant for the Center for Naval Analysis. His father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was one of America’s most influential Cold War strategists - serving as National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter and playing a key role in countering Soviet influence.

Now, as history repeats itself, Brzezinski believes only a return to Cold War tactics can finally bring Putin to his knees. The numbers alone paint a stark picture. The Nato alliance boasts a GDP of around $54trillion - more than 25 times Russia's estimated $2trillion, which remains heavily dependent on energy exports. Nato defence spending, currently rising, is already ten times Russia's estimated $120-$150billion annual military budget.

Despite this overwhelming advantage, Brzezinski said the West has so far failed to exercise its full power to end the war on Ukraine's terms - and is yet to deliver a true knockout to Putin's economy and war machine. “We have yet to really body slam the Russian economy. We can do that," Brzezinski said. "We haven’t, and this allows the Russian war machine to drive forward.". Despite Moscow’s resilience, cracks in its war economy are beginning to show.

Western sanctions have severely limited Russia’s access to critical technologies - forcing it to rely on outdated Soviet-era stockpiles and imports from countries like Iran and North Korea. And domestic industries are struggling as hundreds of thousands of young men have either been drafted into the military or fled the country to avoid conscription. Oil and gas revenues - the backbone of Russia’s economy - have also taken a hit.

While Moscow has successfully redirected exports to China and India, these buyers demand steep discounts - significantly reducing the Kremlin’s war chest. The long-term sustainability of Russia’s wartime economy remains in question - especially if the West tightens restrictions and closes loopholes in sanctions enforcement. Brzezinski believes a more aggressive approach - such as cutting off all access to Western financial systems and targeting Russia’s energy revenue streams - could force Moscow into a crisis it cannot survive.