Ukrainain economist and former presidential adviser Oleh Ustenko stated this on the Espreso TV channel."First of all, they have a logic, it's not that they lack it. They understand that their economic situation is getting out of control. For many, including the Kremlin, it is clear that maintaining the situation in the long term, say, two years plus from the current moment, will not just be difficult, but even impossible. They understand that they have little time left, say, from zero to two years, that is, from the moment where we are now plus 24 months, when they will try to achieve that," he said.Ustenko believes that it is already difficult to understand what they want to achieve."What they have in their heads, judging by all their recent efforts and negotiations and trips they are making, they are either disoriented in the situation, or just paranoid, they want what they want and do not want to tell everyone what they want. They understand that their economic situation will deteriorate very quickly after 24 months from today. They understand that it will be difficult to stand there. They will try to solve everything as quickly as possible," the economist emphasized.In his opinion, Russia is in a state of uncertainty and understands that its revenues from the oil industry will fall."By the way, this is not our merit, but rather the merit of the United States of America, when additional tariffs, customs tariffs were imposed on India, then negotiations with Modi, then finally what is heard and the messages from India. Regarding the fact that we are stopping buying Russian oil, this will hit the Russian oil business, they will lose from 30 to 50 billion dollars in annual equivalent. It is clear that after yesterday's meeting between Xi Jinping and Trump, such a positive decision, which we expected from China, did not happen. Perhaps there will be some reductions in Russian oil, but not as expected earlier," Ustenko said.He predicts that within 24 months - this is the period of time when the Kremlin will be able to keep the economic situation afloat."It will be difficult, but they will be able to withstand it. They will raise taxes, which is what they are doing. VAT has been raised from 20% to 22%. They are changing the tax scheme for their own individual entrepreneurs. They will seize assets first from the outer circle, then from the inner circle, that is, they can finance, it will be difficult, but they will be able to finance their military machine. If necessary, they will even finance it in a larger amount, they will cut spending on the social sector, they also understand this," the economist explained.Ustenko added that this is why we see a colossal increase in spending on their repressive apparatus."That is, the picture will be in a controlled movement for them for a period of 0 to 24 months. And then they understand that there are such challenges that they are not sure they will be able to cope with at all. And there, it seems to me, that collapse-like phenomena will grow at a great speed and even with acceleration. Accordingly, when we talk about totalitarian, authoritarian countries, the period when they are simply cornered and the degree of their aggressiveness increases many times over," he believes.In his opinion, what we are seeing now is just a manifestation of this general picture."You can talk and analyze their military efforts as much as you want, you can analyze the political situation, you can analyze some social shifts that are or may be, or will never be in Russia. Still, I believe that the basis for everything here in this case is the economy, and the economic base gives me such signals, as well as everyone else, including not only the expert community, but also the Kremlin, they are not complete idiots," the economist said.Ustenko stressed that Russia understands that the economy will deteriorate - the degree of their aggressiveness, as in any totalitarian regime, will increase precisely during this period of time."Therefore, what we are seeing now will simply continue at an accelerated pace. What are the challenges for us? The challenges for us are again - to strengthen our security and defense sector as quickly as possible, and this is everything that concerns such tactical tasks that are then solved by the military," he concluded.