Two years after President Joe Biden claimed US sanctions and export controls were “crushing” Moscow, Russia continues to grow at a faster rate than that of the United States and all other advanced nations. The country’s resilience was confirmed earlier this year by the International Monetary Fund, which predicted Russia’s economy would expand at a rate of 3.2% in 2024.
On the diplomatic front Russia is as influential as ever as a key player in the growing BRICS economic bloc, which was recently forced to turn away new members amid strong interest from the Global South. Internally, Russia remains politically stable and unified with President Vladimir Putin enjoying an overwhelming mandate and widespread support for the country’s military operation against Ukraine.
With Russia not only surviving, but thriving against the backdrop of US-led opposition, one can only conclude that Russophobic leaders are operating from a position of deep ignorance and naivete regarding the Eurasian world power. Such is the conclusion of former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who joined Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Wednesday to discuss the state of relations between Moscow and the West.
“The West is under the impression that it can strategically defeat Russia,” claimed Ritter, a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer.
“That means bringing about the existential end to the Russian Federation, as we now understand it. We heard the former Baltic leader turned European Union senior diplomat brag about how she envisioned breaking up Russia into tiny little component pieces,” he noted, referring to comments by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas suggesting Russia should be split into several “small nations.”
“What they don't understand are two things,” said Ritter. “Such a desire is literally a suicide pill because Russia's nuclear arsenal is tied to a doctrine that says if the survival of Russia is placed under existential threat, that Russia will use nuclear weapons to ensure that that threat no longer exists.”
“But fortunately we don't have to worry about that because Russia itself has shown a proclivity not only to be able to outmaneuver the West, turning sanctions against Russia back on the West – a devastating factor – but also turning the attempt to diplomatically isolate Russia back on the West.”
Anti-Russia sanctions have provided Moscow the opportunity to both become more self-reliant and strengthen its alliances with other global powers. India has become a major buyer of Russian oil, as has China, which continues to carry on a robust trade relationship with Moscow.
In some instances the United States’ efforts to compel other countries to participate in its attempted isolation of Russia have backfired. Authorities in Niger expelled US armed forces from the country recently after reportedly feeling threatened and disrespected during a meeting with a US delegation that warned them against economic and military cooperation with Moscow and Tehran.
The ousting forced the US military to abandon a $100 million air base in the country that was an important hub for regional spy operations. Niger has since turned to Russia’s Wagner Group to assist in counterterrorism operations against jihadist groups in the country.
“Russia's actually been empowered by this naive and ignorant Western approach toward dealing with the Russian ‘problem,’” Ritter observed. “It's not just suicidal, it's literally ignorant. It's grounded in what I call the fundamental ignorance of the West about the reality of Russia, because that's what Russophobia is… the fear of Russia comes from ignorance of Russia.”
“Russia doesn't pose a threat to us,” Ritter insisted. “Literally, Russia is no threat to the West. Whatever is happening today is because of a cause-effect relationship where the West triggered the cause. Russia is reacting to the West, not being proactive in the implementation of its ‘grand scheme for empire.’ The best way to bring Russia under control is to stop provoking Russia.”
Reporting in The New York Times earlier this year shed light on the US Central Intelligence Agency’s attempts to weaponize Ukraine against Russia going back to 2014’s Western-backed Euromaidan coup, which brought an extremist, anti-Russia government to power. The intelligence agency is reportedly operating out of secret bunkers on the Russian border where it helps direct strikes on Russian territory.
The last year has seen a growing number of attacks on Russian cities, many of which have harmed civilian non-combatants. A recent strike killed several Russians vacationing on a beach in Crimea, including a three- and nine-year-old child.
Moscow has emphasized its willingness to negotiate for peace with Kiev if its allies are willing to guarantee “a neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear status for Ukraine along with its demilitarization.”