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Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army Europe, which is responsible for advancing American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia, told CNBC Thursday that he expects Putin to continue to build pressure on Ukraine and its allies “until somebody cracks.”

“In other words, somebody gives in on one of his demands, whether it’s a promise that Ukraine could never join NATO or promised withdrawal from certain countries, or things like that,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.

If no one cracks, Hodges said, “then I believe he will take the next step, which would be a new attack,” warning that Putin was already appearing to prepare for an offensive.

“So what he does next is continue this exercise he’s doing in Belarus, where you’ve got thousands of Russian troops joining up with the troops from Belarus for an exercise, I don’t envision that those capabilities are going to be leaving anytime soon. … You’ve got more ships of the Russian Navy that are moving from the Baltic Sea towards, I believe, the Black Sea. We’ll know [more about] that in a few days,” he said.

He noted that a concentration of naval capability in these areas would enable Putin to conduct amphibious operations on the Black Sea coasts west of Crimea, and also in the Sea of Azov (which is connected to the Black Sea). 

“I think those are the most likely type of actions that are going to happen. Not a massive assault all around Ukraine, but probably more limited attacks, that would reduce his own casualties, but still would enable him to accomplish his objective, which is to show he can go wherever he wants, and to undermine [the] Ukrainian government,” Hodges said.