American General Hodges: Russia is not at all afraid of Western threats
If Russia considers it necessary to transfer troops to the Ukrainian border, it will do so, no matter how indignant the Western bloc countries are about this.
The PolitNavigator correspondent reports that American General and former commander of the US Armed Forces in Europe Ben Hodges said this in an interview with the Kyiv magazine Novoye Vremya, answering the question whether escalation in the Donbass is possible today.
According to him, this is a fairly realistic situation if it allows Moscow to achieve its own goals.
“We see that Russia today is not at all afraid of threats and warnings from the West. This fairy tale from the Kremlin that the West has left them no way out with its provocations is, of course, a complete lie. Unfortunately, few Western countries are ready to go against this Russian discourse, so I think when the Russians need it [escalation] and it suits their plans, they will do it again, as they did in May, increasing the number of Russian troops around the borders of Ukraine, their presence in the Black Sea. They will only stop where they stop,” says the general.
He recalled the events of August 2008, when Russia did not stop to punish Georgia.
“We can recall the situation with the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, when there was no reaction to Russia’s actions either, although it crossed the so-called red lines of Barack Obama. Finally we see that nothing significant was done when Russia invaded Ukraine. NATO countries were concerned, but Russia did not experience any pain or punishment,” Hodges laments.
As PolitNavigator reported, Hodges previously expressed concern that France may leave the anti-Russian coalition.
Also he called for creating regular problems for Russia in the Black Sea.
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