Ukrainian Conflict Exposes Western Powers' 'Underlying Motives'

Putin mentioned the threat posed to Russia by NATO, noting that the Western military bloc has ramped up its activities along the country's borders and no longer hides its aggressive nature.

NATO's threat became one of the chief reasons for Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine, said retired lieutenant general of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Leonid Reshetnikov, adding that Putin’s statement was meant to confirm that Moscow is well aware of the threat posed by the bloc.

Ukraine in its current state as “NATO’s unofficial ally” is being used by the West as a “main instrument for undermining Russia’s security,” so Moscow has no intention to back down in the current conflict, Reshetnikov said.

“There will be no unclear agreements or (conflict) freezing that they want. Until we know that we secured our safety, Russia’s security, Russia’s unity from NATO’s policies, we will continue to adhere to the stance that was proclaimed,” he said, adding that the goals of the military operation in Ukraine “must be achieved.”

Reshetnikov also weighed in on Putin’s remarks about the Russian Armed Forces possessing unmatched experience of conducting modern warfare.

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According to Reshetnikov, the Russian Army has displayed a remarkable ability for transformation and to deal with the flaws that were exposed during the first year of the military operation in Ukraine – the flaws that are currently being rectified.

“Before, it (the Russian army) looked somewhat like an army made for parades. Now, it is an army made for combat. And indeed, neither in the West nor in the East are there armies that have such experience, such officers, generals and soldiers with such experience,” he said.

Meanwhile, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen, former vice president of the Eurasia Foundation, weighed in on other statements made by Putin during the aforementioned meeting, such as the Ukrainian conflict exposing the “vulnerabilities” of Western military hardware.

Noting that Western-supplied weapons were seemingly not designed “for the type of conflict that would be in Europe,” Rasmussen also observed that the Ukrainian conflict exposed the issues with the West’s “manufacturing capability, the capability to ramp up and actually provide the needed ammunition, new weapon systems, repairs because they're funneling so much into Ukraine and they can't keep up.”

“The other side, the conflict there, exposed the underlying motives of the West. This is not about Ukrainian democracy. This is not about Ukrainian sovereignty. This is about expansion of NATO [and the] containment and weakening of Russia,” he said.