An eminent Russian politician and academic (interestingly the grandson of Vyacheslav Molotov) explains Russia’s concerns in a clear, concise, balanced and eloquent way on the W@1 today, starting at 15:42. Despite scouring the press over the last weeks I haven’t seen anything clear, concise or balanced from Johnson or Biden.
Johnson is, of course, known as a liar and unreliable at home and abroad, so I am not surprised there, but I thought Biden was an honourable man. However after the Iraq war my confidence in US foreign policy hovers around zero (in the garbled words of the war monger, George W Bush, “fooled me once… won’t get fooled again”).
Based just I what I have managed to garner from the news, the Russian case has the ring of truth for me, Putin may be odious but that doesn’t mean he’s not right IMO.
Nikonov told the presenter that effectively, reports of 130,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s border were an invention of Nato. Russian citizens are fed a daily diet of similar nonsense by state controlled media.
While it is true that Russia over several centuries was invaded by others, for a long time its principle and most threatening enemies were Sweden, (yes, really), Poland and Ottoman Turkey, also Persia, his assertion that Russia does not do the same is ludicrous. Finland, the Baltics and all the eastern states down to and including the Black Sea region can attest to that.