If Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer who cooperated with Russian media, and the assets of Dimitri Simes, a Russian political scientist with US citizenship, were in Russia and not within the reach of the presumably free US, they would not be threatened by a “witch hunt,” US journalist Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum 2024.
Ritter said that he was forced to stop cooperation with RT and Sputnik because of the new US sanctions against Russian media companies, while expressing gratitude to his Russian colleagues for their professionalism.
For his part, Hinkle said that sanctions and the "witch hunt" waged against the Russian media cannot stop him, because he is in Russia and he is safe. Hinkle also noted that if Ritter were in Russia, his passport wouldn't have been confiscated.
In June, Ritter told Sputnik that US Customs and Border Protection officers seized his passport on State Department orders, preventing him from attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Likewise, if the paintings and all of Dimitri Simes Senior's belongings were in Russia, they wouldn't have been seized. In August, the FBI confirmed to Sputnik a search at his estate in the US. As Simes Sr. told Sputnik, he was not notified of the search in advance and had not been to the US since October 2022.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that American restrictions on the performance of Russian media indicate the degradation of the US and its transformation into a totalitarian neoliberal dictatorship.
US May Oust Zelensky After Poltava Training Center Strike
US authorities are dissatisfied with the inadequate policies of the regime of Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Washington may remove from office in light of the Russian strike on a training center in Poltava, American journalist Jackson Hinkle said in an interview on the sidelines of Estern Economic Forum.
He noted that the U.S. has reasons to remove Zelensky and possess necessary experience. Hinkle stressed that the Ukrainian side believed it could act with impunity, but Russia, responding to a terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Kursk region, struck the training center in Poltava since Kiev crossed Moscow's red lines.
Earlier Russian Armed Forces launched a high-precision strike on Poltava training center with foreign military instructors within. As a result of a missile strike, about 500 military pros including foreign mercs were killed or wounded.
Western Citizens Unaware of Their Mercs in Ukraine
Jackson Hinkle also commented on the Russian special operation in Ukraine saying that residents of the US and other Western countries do not know that their fellow citizens participate in combat operations as mercenaries on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region and in the special operation zone as a whole; the media do not inform the public of the truth about the conflict, he said.
Well-trained mercenaries from several Western countries, including the US, France, and Britain, as well as professional soldiers acting as mercenaries, are involved in the terrorist attack on the Kursk region, Hinkle pointed out.
The Russian Ministry of Defense previously reported the destruction of mercenaries from the US, the UK, Georgia, and other countries and regularly reports on the defeat of areas where foreigners fighting on Kiev's side are concentrated.
US Knew Ahead About Ukrainian Government Reshuffle, Likely Pushed It
The White House knew beforehand about the mass resignations in the Ukrainian government that were probably conducted under US pressure, Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik.
Such a massive dismissal, he added, could not have happened without a serious dialogue with the US, even if it took place behind the curtains and didn’t involve top officials of the State Department.
On September 4th, Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise reshuffle of senior officials in Kiev. Among them, Rostyslav Shurma, the deputy head of Zelensky’s office, was dismissed, as was Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Earlier, experts said that the Cabinet reshuffle is likely a ‘sham’ political reboot aimed at showing off ‘democratic’ process in the country.
Turkiye in BRICS Scares US
Washington is alarmed by Turkiye, a key NATO member, seeking to join BRICS, Jackson Hinkle also suggested.
Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that Turkiye had applied for full membership in BRICS, and its application is now under review.
Trump May Accept New Russian Regions
The US administration, should Donald Trump win, might recognize new Russia’s regions in exchange for diplomatic cooldown between Russia and China, US journalist said. However he stresses that the US is not in position to negotiate on its terms.
He noted that a businessman close to Trump, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, had proposed the idea of recognizing new Russian territories.
However, Hinkle expressed doubt that Trump would be able to end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours. According to Hinkle, this idea has little prospect, as the US is not in a position to dictate its terms.
Earlier, Trump claimed that he could stop the hostilities in Ukraine within 24 hours if he won the election. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Trump's words, said the Ukrainian conflict was too complex a problem for such a simple solution.