Experts in the West are raising questions about what the concessions would have to be that might allow Vladimir Putin to “save face” because of his invasion of Ukraine. But Russian lawmakers and some who are leading the propaganda machine in the country are encouraging the Russian autocrat to smash the West, which they say should be Russia’s ultimate goal.
Olga Skabeeva is the host of the Russian state TV show 60 Minutes. She announced on a recent episode, “I have some unpleasant news… Even though we are methodically destroying the weapons that are being delivered [to Ukraine], but the quantities in which the United States are sending them to force us to come up with some global conclusions. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that maybe Russia’s special operation in Ukraine has come to an end, in a sense that a real war had started: WWIII. We’re forced to conduct the demilitarization not only of Ukraine but of the entire NATO alliance.”
Vladimir Avatkov is from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said: “You mentioned WWIII and the way Americans and Poles are acting on the territory of Ukraine—indeed, we need to remember the words of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who said that anyone who tries to interfere in the special military operation will pay a heavy price.”
The 60 Minutes host acknowledged that Russia will not forget Putin’s words and she said that other countries are standing in line to interfere with Russia’s special operation. She said that Russia has to act and they need to figure out how to do it without a nuclear strike.
Some experts are now focused on the likelihood that Poland could be the next step for Russia, this is according to pro-Kremlin Russian TV channel Russia-1,
In NATO’S Article 5, it says that an attack on one ally within NATO is deemed to be an attack on all. So if Russia were to invade Poland, that act would certainly provoke a conflict with the whole U.S.-led 30 national alliance.
Oleg Matveychev, a Russian legislator, said recently that if Poland starts an intervention with Russia or Ukraine, its borders will be “worthless.” Poland has already sent weapons to Ukraine including 18 AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers, according to a Polish public radio broadcast on May 29th.
Olga Skabeeva, on Russia’s 60 Minutes, made sure her audience knew that she did not want to limit Russian intervention to just Poland. She also mentioned intervention in Great Britain and the United States. But the panel on the show said that Russia did not need to rush. They said that there is a line and everything will take place in its time.
Other statements like these have been made on Russia-1 TV. Members of the State Duma have entered into this kind of discussion as well as members of the lower house of Russia’s parliament like Andrey Kartapolov.
He said that the war in Ukraine was just “the first act, an introduction,” and there would be a bigger conflict to come in the future.
Threats like this have become common on Russian television. They usually are just a way to rally the people of the nation and build a popular consensus for the war. But the journalists seem to have become much more aggressive, especially those who are close to the Russian government. Some believe that this means the Kremlin is behind the intense rhetoric.
We can’t assume that common sense will prevail when we are talking about Putin’s plans.
