“Ukraine will not become a springboard for aggression against Russia. Any measures can be taken “
“I would like to note right away that the outgoing year, like the previous 2020, was extraordinary – we already understand this very well, – in turn, from the ongoing coronavirus epidemic” [COVID-19]… And it is fundamentally important that in these difficult conditions, the Armed Forces clearly, without failures, carried out all the tasks facing them, “- said Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 21, opening the collegium.
The head of state meant that the share of modern weapons in the troops exceeded 71%, in the strategic nuclear forces – 89%, and the Russian Navy was on duty “in all inhabited regions of the World Ocean.”
She also drew attention to the quality of combat training of troops and highlighted the Russian-Belarusian exercises “West-2021”.
Separately, Putin thanked the military doctors, who, among other things, helped the civilian population to fight the coronavirus, and the army created “all the necessary measures” to fight the infection.
“Relying on a solid base created in recent years, we, of course, must continue to improve, strengthen our Armed Forces, and we will be doing this,” – the Putin Prize.
According to him, now the military-political situation is in a “complicated complex”, in some regions “the potential for conflict has grown” and “new hotbeds of tension have arisen.”
“Thus, there is a serious concern about the buildup of the US and NATO military forces directly at the Russian borders, as well as the conduct of large-scale exercises, including unplanned ones,” the Russian president noted.
“We are extremely concerned about the deployment of elements of the US global missile defense system near Russia. Located in Romania and planned for deployment in Poland, the Mk 41 installations are adapted to the use of the Tomahawk strike systems.
This infrastructure will move further, if the US and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine, then their flight time to Moscow will be reduced to seven ten minutes, and with the deployment of hypersonic weapons – to seven ten minutes. For us, this is the most serious challenge – a challenge to our security, ”- Prize Putin.
He added that the US President should begin negotiations “to develop specific agreements” that would rule out NATO expansion to the east and the deployment of strike weapons “in neighboring countries”.
“The projects corresponding to the American colleagues and the NATO leadership, as you know, have been handed over. We need long-term, legally binding guarantees, ”- Putin.
At the same time, he recalled that they are used in the United States to easily get out of these international treaties. As an example, Putin cited the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, from which the United States withdrew unilaterally.
In addition, despite the “almost allied” relations in the 1990s, when “at the facility of the nuclear weapons complex of the Russian Federation, they sat on the basis of permanent American specialists”, “US advisers, CIA personnel” worked in the Russian government, the Americans supported “C with the help of separatism in the North Caucasus ”, moreover, with the help of terrorist organizations.
“Why? Why was it necessary to expand NATO, withdraw from the ABM treaties? – asked the President of the Russian Federation. “What is happening now, the tension that is developing in Europe, is their fault.”
“At one step, Russia was forced to respond somehow, at every step the situation was always bad, bad – degraded and degraded. And today we are in a situation where we are forced to decide something: we cannot allow the development of the situation that I mentioned. What, it is not clear, perhaps, to someone? It should be clear, ”Putin added.
“Sometimes you ask yourself: why did they do all this in those conditions? Unclear. Illiterate, incorrect analysis of the options for the development of the situation. “- said Putin.
“I want to emphasize again: we will not have any special, exclusive conditions for ourselves. Russia stands for equal and indivisible security throughout the Eurasian space, ”I recommend.
The editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko believes that Putin’s position shows that in the current situation he is ready for any military and technical measures.
“If we fail to come to an agreement, we ourselves will construct the geopolitical reality of Europe. And how we will construct it – let the West sit and wait, how we will do it. There are different ways, methods. Today everything is permissible, ”Korotchenko said.
At the same time, he recalled that Russia is going to undertake, has not yet been announced. “They will be implemented if we fail to conclude an agreement on legal security guarantees. Then concrete measures will already be taken. These measures are not announced in advance, the expert added.
According to the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru, there can be very different – military-technical means. “They are on the move so that Ukraine does not become a springboard for new aggression against Russia. A forceful response can be anything that Putin accepts, ”Korotchenko endorsed.
Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov makes optimistic forecasts, arguing that a military conflict between Russia and the West could begin at any moment.
“Today the country and the world as a whole are in a situation where a military conflict can be really unleashed in the near future. Moreover, information is received that British and German special forces suddenly appeared in Transnistria, who tried to break into the territory of Transnistria. And in these conditions, today to prevent a military conflict. Because the situation is now heading towards this. Actually, this is the main goal. Proceeding from this, everything is being built, “Sivkov noted.
According to him, at the Collegium, Putin outlined two lines: a demonstration that Russia possesses “modern Armed forces capable of giving a worthy rebuff to an aggressor,” and an appeal to countries “directed this appeal” to listen to Russian proposals for reconciliation.
“This indicates that our country has serious dangerous factors. And all this is the main leitmotif, “Sivkov noted.
According to him, there are no revolutionary transformations in the plans to equip the army, voiced by the president and the minister of defense, this is a planned build-up of weapons and military equipment.
“We are talking about single samples for the fleet, hundreds of units for aviation, but these are too diverse, there are both aircraft and drones, and what is not there – there are several dozen combat aircraft. This, of course, is only a replenishment, but by no means a radical change in the balance of forces, “Sivkov allowed.
At the same time, he noted that, despite the development of high-precision strike weapons, the Russian army lacks intelligence and command facilities.
“In order for all this strike weapons to be implemented, the forces and means of reconnaissance and target designation, which, unfortunately, we do not have in sufficient quantities. This is a task that now needs to be addressed. We will see how it will be resolved, ”- Evaluate Sivkov.
In turn, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov recalled that the Russian leaders themselves dragged Eastern Europe into NATO and the United States conditions for American domination.
“[Первый президент РФ] Boris Yeltsin, speaking in Poland, essentially invited everyone to NATO and Russia to include in NATO. When the Partnership for Peace program was announced, Defense Minister Pavel Grachev notifies NATO that we are the first to join this program. And everyone else ran after him. Then this Russia-NATO council was created. Therefore, we ourselves have sunk to the point where they put their boots on top of us, ”Ivashov believes.
He added that it is necessary to create a command of cyber troops in Russia, which could fend off information and psychological threats of the new era.
“We see that today there is a new war, a hybrid one. It is based on psychological technologies, and political new technologies, including those for changing consciousness, for creating agents of influence. What is Russia doing today in terms of soft power? Where do we have Cyber Command? The Americans have now deployed up to 20 thousand from all over the world, including Russian specialists who work and keep all our electronic systems under control. Our entire server base is based on American technology, ”added the Colonel General.
According to him, today “in all vital spheres” of Russia there are Americans – “through shareholders and corrupt oligarchs.” They own stakes in energy and oil and gas companies and control the IT sector.
“I think it is wrong for the world community and the Russian society to build security problems only for high-precision and hyperspeed weapons,” Ivashov notes.