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NATO’s confrontation with Moscow, army modernization and operation in Ukraine
Russia is facing nearly the entire military potential of NATO in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on December 21 during an extended meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense.
The Russian president also commented on what led up to the current conflict with Kiev and noted the importance of modernizing the country’s nuclear potential in order to maintain sovereignty.
Confrontation with West
Putin said Moscow’s “strategic opponents” have always tried to “cut down” and “break up” Russia because they believe the country is “too big” and poses a threat. He noted that this was something the West had been trying to achieve for centuries.
“Our strategic enemies have had the goal to disintegrate, weaken and divide our country for centuries. There’s nothing new about it. The country, it seems to them, is too big and menacing for someone, so it needs a bit of splitting up, dividing. That has always been [the case],” he said.
He said throughout centuries, “wherever you look, that was the goal,” and it’s enough to read up on relevant literature to be confident that was the case.
“They have always nurtured ideas and built plans, hopes that they will succeed one way or another,” Putin said. Russia, he continued, “has always, almost always, stuck with a completely different approach, different beliefs.”
“We have always sought to be part of the so-called civilized world. So, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which we allowed with our own hands, it seemed to us for some reason that any day now we would become part of that so-called civilized world. But it turned out we weren’t welcome there, despite all our efforts and attempts. I’m saying this having in mind my own work as well. I also made these efforts, our efforts to be closer, to be part of it – no,” the president said.
NATO against Russia
Putin stated that NATO was currently using the military potential of nearly all of its member states against Moscow.
However, he noted that Russia had learned a lot from its mistakes in the past and would not harm itself by militarizing the nation.
“We will not militarize the country and we will not militarize the economy,” Putin proclaimed, stressing that Russia’s current level of development simply doesn’t require such measures.
He added that Russian military leaders have been tasked with studying NATO’s tactics and capabilities and have been asked to consider this information in the training and equipment of Russia’s own forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a clash with hostile forces in Ukraine has been inevitable.
“It became obvious that clashes with those forces, including in Ukraine, were inevitable. The question was only when it would happen,” he said at a yearend Defense Ministry meeting.
Putin said military operations always go hand in hand with tragedies and losses.
“We understand that perfectly well, we realize that, but because it’s inevitable, better today than tomorrow,” the president said.
Putin also brought up the subject of the manifestations of neo-Nazism and fascism in Ukraine. The head of state said Russia also has them, but the government cracks down on them.
“Every country has nationalists, and we do. But we are fighting the manifestations of neo-Nazism and fascism. We do not elevate them to the rank of national policy, but in Ukraine they do, everyone pretends not to notice it,” he said.
“Nationalism might seem a good thing. They fight for national interests, and no one notices that it’s done on the basis of the fascist, neo-Nazi ideology. People walk around with swastikas in the centers of major cities, including in the capital, and it may seem that’s the way everyone wants it,” the president said.
“It’s similar to how, in the early 2000s, they used international terrorists to fight Russia, and didn’t give a damn, sorry about ill manners, that it was a terrorist, an internationally recognized terrorist. They didn’t give a damn because they used it to fight Russia. Same here, neo-Nazis are used to fight Russia and they don’t give a damn that these people are neo-Nazis. The main thing is that they fight Russia. But we do care.”
Modernizing the Russian military
The president emphasized the need to bolster the use of drones in the Russian army and pointed to the country’s experience in developing underwater-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which he said should be improved upon to create more advanced air and ground drones.
He suggested modernizing communication systems and incorporating artificial intelligence technologies across all decision-making levels, noting that fast and automated systems have proven to be the most effective on the battlefield.
Russia will not repeat the mistakes of the past, when the economy was ruined in the interest of defense, President Vladimir Putin said.
“We will not repeat mistakes of the past, when we ruined our economy in the interests of enhancing defense capability where it was needed and where it was not really needed,” the head of state said.
“We will not deal with militarization of the country and militarization of the economy,” Putin stressed.
Militarization is not needed “primarily because the level of development achieved today, the structure of the economy do not require it,” the Russian leader said.
“We simply do not need it and we are not going to and will not do something superfluous to the detriment of the country, to the detriment of our people and the economy, and the social sphere,” he added.
The president also approved a number of structural changes proposed by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in response to NATO bolstering its forces on the border with Russia and potentially extending membership to Finland and Sweden.
Ukraine as brotherly nation
Russia spent years doing everything it could to build not just neighborly, but brotherly relations with Ukraine, and nothing worked, said Putin, noting that “we have always considered Ukrainians to be a brotherly people.”
“I still believe that. Everything that is happening is a tragedy. Our common tragedy. But it is not the result of our policies,” the president said.
He added that Russia’s geopolitical opponents have started to use a wide range of means to further their goals, including meddling in the internal affairs of the former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, which ultimately led to the ongoing conflict with Kiev.
Nuclear triad
Russia’s nuclear arsenal is the key guarantor of its sovereignty, Putin said, noting that new weapons will soon enter into service and commit to the development of the country’s defensive capabilities.
The president said Russia will continue to maintain and improve its nuclear triad, which comprises missiles fired from aircraft, submarines, and ground-based mobile launchers and silos.
Online Reporter