Moscow's decision to conduct a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine to demilitarise and denazify the country, has made the Western world face the new reality. It would have been possible to avoid such a disaster, if the USA and NATO had listened to Russia and responded to Russia's concerns sensibly and reasonably.
Vasily Piskarev, the head of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, accused the Kyiv regime of the catastrophe. The Ukrainian regime, which enjoys support in the West, came to power eight years ago as a result of a coup. This is a fascist regime in its nature, he said. All attempts to resolve the crisis through the talks failed, and the killings of civilians continued. According to Piskarev, the time has come for decisive action to liberate Ukraine "from the terror unleashed by the last of Hitler and Bandera" and protect the Fatherland from obvious military threats.
Washington and Brussels have done a lot to draw Ukraine and Georgia into the North Atlantic Alliance, nurtured anti-Russian neo-Nazi sentiments in the erstwhile fraternal Slavic country to make Ukraine become Russia's sworn enemy.
If NATO had consolidated itself in the Black Sea region, Russia would have faced a real threat to its southern regions immediately. Historian Oleg Airapetov believes that Washington and its loyal satellites had taken the course for war with Russia back in 2008. Russia could not leave its south to the mercy of fate.
Russia repeatedly reminded NATO of its promises not to expand to the east. Russia repeatedly and persistently asked the West to take its security concerns into account and follow the principles of equal and indivisible security enshrined in OSCE documents. Everything was in vain.
Does it make sense to appeal to the conscience and nobility of Western politicians, if they do not even know what these qualities are? They do not want to discuss the revision of the world order, and Moscow was pushed to use military force as a catalyst for negotiations in the future.
Today, American and European politicians are still trying to play the old game on the "Grand Chessboard" in the footsteps of their "prophet" Zbigniew Brzezinski. They did not even bother to notice that they had led themselves into a stalemate. The West blames Russia for all problems that Western countries have and then they proceed to strangle the Russian economy with sanctions even to the detriment of their own economies and peoples.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, announced new restrictions that would affect the strategic sectors of the Russian economy, and pledged to block access to technology and financial markets to weaken the Russian economic base and its ability to get modernised. French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire acknowledged that the sanctions would negatively affect his country's economy, but said that he was ready to "heroically" pay the price, as "our values of freedom are at stake."
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was shocked to find out that Moscow's actions in Ukraine cast doubts on the world order on the continent. Scholz was pleased that the European Union and NATO were so thoroughly prepared for the adoption of new sanctions. Czech President Milos Zeman, who had previously held a balanced position, suddenly demanded Russia be disconnected from the SWIFT payment system. European politicians are unable to perceive events objectively.
National battalions use Grad multiple launch rocket systems against civilians and infrastructure in Donbass, whereas Western politicians resort to the vicious system of destructive illegitimate sanctions against both the Russian economy and citizens. They both act inhumanely, trying to achieve their unilateral benefits, based on the right of the strong. Long-term goals can not be achieved through brutal methods. The longest day has an end.
EU governments should bear in mind the fact that their countries depend on Russia just as Russia depends on them.
In addition to traditional energy sources — oil, gas, and coal — Western countries import from Russia:
and many other products. In order to stop imports of these strategically important goods, they do not even need to establish direct restrictions on the Russian banks that conduct financial transactions for those contracts.
The Americans shoot themselves in the foot when they ban US companies and citizens from investing in Russian bonds and stocks — they discourage many from dealing with the US currency. Russia foresaw the problem of dealing with the dollar and started borrowing in Asian markets. If Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, Russian banks will switch to the Central Bank Financial Message Transmission System, which can work in conjunction with the Chinese counterpart — China International Payments System (CIPS).
The sooner the West learns from past mistakes regarding NATO's aggressive eastward expansion coupled with total disregard of Russia's legitimate security interests, the less damage will be inflicted on the opposing sides.
Nikolai Mezhevich, an expert at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the world has crossed the line, behind which it is becoming a totally different world. New rules are being prepared, and they will be put on the table very soon. The Americans are used to thinking that it is only them, the "exceptional nation," that can make new rules for everyone else, but they are wrong this time. The USA's supremacy is over with.