General Ivashov: Germany is waiting for new Hitler to come

More than 50 countries are directly or indirectly involved in the special operation in Ukraine today. Is it true that it is the USA and the UK that play the leading role in the conflict? What future awaits Europe? Pravda.Ru editor-in-chief Inna Novikova asked these and other questions to Doctor of Historical Sciences, retired Colonel General Leonid Ivashov.

Photo: https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1592109317033185280 by Defense of Ukraine is licensed under public domain

Hostilities in the zone of the special military operation are expected to intensify in spring and summer. What changes are we going to face in the upcoming months?

The special operation may stop somewhere already in 2024 in fall, but it may also last for years.

More than 50 countries take part in this conflict today to one degree or another. Five or six of them are the main actors with the United States and Great Britain taking the lead. The Vatican has its own interest, including in influencing the possible negotiation process. Germany is being assigned a new role in Europe; it wants to dominate Europe, but neither the Americans nor the British want that. France is not a strong player, but it also plays a certain role.

There is a question about the future of Europe here. Trumpist sentiment has been on the rise in the US lately, even among the Democrats. Many Americans believe that the States need to pull out from NATO, to withdraw military bases in Germany — the Germans do not mind — but keep military presence in Romania, Poland, and the Baltic states. Europe faces the question of whether the EU is going to survive without NATO. Will Germany agree to carry Europe on its back?

Germany is in a deplorable state already.

It is, because the Americans and the British are doing everything to bring Germany down.

We can remember it from the history of Germany that when it gets very difficult, the Germans look for those responsible for their problems, and a new Hitler is definitely being raised. And now Germany is being pushed to the forefront.

There are a lot of weapons in Europe, but there is no one in Europe who could use these weapons to fight. There is no infantry to conquer territories or take cities. They push Germany to triple the strength and combat potential of the Bundeswehr. Continuous exercises of European NATO forces with the participation of the United States are already underway from February to mid-May. The Americans carry out strategic redeployments. Europe does not have air transport. Europe is very poor when it comes to reconnaissance and communications satellites. They are mostly American.

The EU is thinking about what kind of organisation they could create should the Americans leave NATO. As a result of the special operation, the Europeans have found themselves dependent on expensive American shale gas. Many European companies (German companies in the first place) come under the jurisdiction of the United States.

The era of the West is coming to an end, and it is the era of the East that is coming up. Southeast Asia — China, India, South Korea — is becoming increasingly active.

The Anglo-Saxons have not been able to curb this part of Southeast Asia. Asians want to cooperate, but they do not want to fight for the interests of the West. We can see major changes happening in the Middle East as well. Iran has grown into a fairly strong power too.

The existence of Israel is in question, because it has served its purpose when it was necessary to be the American hand in the Middle East: to start conflicts, to control the Suez Canal. Today Israel is a burden to America. That is why they say that a "new Jerusalem” is being built in Ukraine.

What will happen to the currency of the global financial system is not clear either. The dollar may collapse at any moment, but there is nothing to replace it with. Digital currencies are just an attempt to profit from dollar flows. The world has been very turbulent lately, and it is changing quickly.