Containment on the brink: how far the collective West is willing to go in an effort to weaken Russia

The collective West is preparing for an open armed confrontation with Russia, said Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, speaking at a meeting of representatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries in Tashkent.

“The events around Ukraine show that Westerners are trying to balance on the verge between hybrid actions and an open armed conflict with our country, for which they do not stop preparing.

This has already been officially recognized and enshrined in the doctrinal documents of the alliance adopted at the NATO summit in Madrid,” Patrushev said.

According to him, the special operation in Ukraine is used only as a pretext for launching an unprecedented anti-Russian campaign.

“The Americans are trying to take similar actions against our Chinese partners, which was shown by the recent US provocation in Taiwan,” Patrushev added.

He explained that Washington is going to start expanding into the Asia-Pacific region based on the potential of such blocs as AUKUS and QUAD, "to the activities of which they are trying to attract the maximum number of states on anti-Russian or anti-Chinese principles."

Ready for action

At the end of June, President Vladimir Putin stated that the West had been preparing for a confrontation with Russia for a long time - this was openly admitted at the NATO summit by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“We have to take it as a fact.

The fact that since 2014 they have been preparing for some kind of active actions against us is not news to us.

This is precisely what explains our decisive actions to protect our own interests,” the Russian leader said.

According to him, the United States has long needed an external enemy, using the "threat" from which it would be possible to unite allies around itself.

The President explained that Iran "was not very suitable for this role," so Russia got it.

“There is nothing new for us.

This once again confirms what we have been talking about all the time, namely, that the NATO bloc is a vestige of a past era, the era of the Cold War.

We were constantly told that NATO has changed, that it is now, most likely, a political union.

But everyone was looking for a reason and an opportunity to give it a new impetus precisely as a military organization.

Here you are, they are doing it,” Putin said.

Recall that following the NATO summit in Madrid, a new strategic concept was approved, in which Russia is called "the most significant and direct threat to the security of allies and peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region."

At the end of June, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also spoke about the confrontation between Russia and the West.

“When the Second World War began, Hitler gathered under his banner a significant part, if not most, of the European countries for the war against the Soviet Union.

Right now, including the EU and NATO, they are gathering the same modern coalition to fight, and by and large, war with the Russian Federation, ”he said.

Direct participation

After the start of the special operation, Western countries increased the supply of various weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime, including long-range missile systems.

In particular, Washington handed over HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine.

At the same time, the White House stated that the United States does not seek war between NATO and Russia and will not directly participate in the conflict by sending troops to the region or attacking Russian forces.

However, in early August, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadym Skibitsky, in an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, said that Kyiv was consulting with the United States before using the HIMARS MLRS, while he specified that Washington could cancel strikes if the intended target did not suit him.

Commenting on the publication, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, emphasized: this statement irrefutably proves that Washington, contrary to the statements of the White House and the Pentagon, is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine.

In turn, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that real-time transmission of information about targets in the context of the use of American weapons indicates direct participation in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.

“The armed forces of Ukraine are coordinating targets with the United States and they are hit by American weapons.

I cannot say that in this case the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the operators of these weapons.

They are rather assistants to the operators,” the diplomat noted.

Hybrid containment

According to analysts, the West switched to an active hybrid war against Russia back in 2014. 

“The purpose of this is to weaken Russia to such an extent that it cannot clearly defend its national interests and broadcast its agenda on the international arena.

To do this, the West, primarily under the leadership of the United States, uses all the tools available to it, ”said Sergey Ermakov, a leading expert at the RISS Research Coordination Center, in an interview with RT.

• Russian military

• © RIA Novosti / Alexey Kudenko

According to him, it is now difficult to say to what extent the collective West is ready to go in its desire to weaken the Russian Federation.

“We are talking not only about Russia, but also about another geopolitical adversary - China.

We see more and more confrontational attacks towards both Moscow and Beijing from the United States and its allies, ”the analyst recalled.

At the same time, he noted that there is a discussion in the West about whether it is worth further provoking an escalation and continuing pressure on Moscow and Beijing.

“There is a struggle going on in Western political circles.

On the one hand, there are calls to stop because of the high probability of slipping into a serious global crisis, which will leave no chance for survival for the West itself.

On the other hand, those who call for firmness and toughness and further exert more serious pressure, first of all on the Russian Federation, and then on China, are active, ”the political scientist explained.

In turn, Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, head of the Center for Military-Diplomatic Analysis and Assessments, in a conversation with RT, noted that the military-political situation in the world is "heated to the limit."

“This is primarily due to the approach of NATO infrastructure to the western borders of the Russian Federation and the conduct of a hybrid war against Russia in Ukraine.

In this connection, Russia was forced to launch an operation in order to ensure its national security.

All attempts to convince the West that Moscow needs security guarantees have come to nothing,” the expert said.

He doubted that NATO would ever accept the defeat of Ukraine militarily, as this would mean the actual defeat of the alliance itself.

“If the goals and objectives of a special military operation are close to being resolved, NATO may take a risky step.

For example, the use of tactical nuclear weapons with a small charge, ”the analyst suggested.

To prevent the development of a global conflict, foreign actors must realize the futility of an open war with the Russian Federation and show the political will to prevent it, Vinokurov is sure.

“The worst scenario can be avoided if the West decides to put its ally in his place, who is already starting to bother everyone,” the political scientist concluded.