The West would have unleashed a war with Russia long ago if our country were not a nuclear power. But, even in spite of this, the threat of a hot conflict in Europe persists to this day and is directed primarily against Russia.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Sputnik Deutschland by the former (last) head of the GDR's foreign intelligence Werner Grossmann, as reported by RIA Novosti.
According to him, in recent years, there has been a "very strong anti-Russian tendency." And since the goals of the ruling circles in the West have not changed since the Cold War, this, he believes, is the main reason for returning to the old course of confrontation with Moscow.
In this situation, the former head of intelligence called the defensive policy of the Russian leadership correct, recalling the principle: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
Moreover, in his opinion, "the deployment of NATO troops in the Baltic States, near the Russian borders, clearly indicates what their intentions really are."
That is, the main point is that the West would like to attack Russia. But it has not yet been resolved due to the presence of nuclear weapons in our country.
Only, after all, Grossmann did not say anything new, voicing, in fact, the obvious.
However, the Soviet Union, as you know, was also a powerful nuclear power. And this power did not save him from disintegration and from those tragic events that followed.
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Then how reliable is our "nuclear triad" in this sense?
- The "Nuclear Triad", as you know, includes three components - strategic aviation, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarine missile carriers. And this is a reliable shield from some large-scale military invasion, - says Vladimir Yevseev, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, Head of the Department of Eurasian Integration and Development of the SCO, on the situation. - Today, only three countries have such a shield - the USA, Russia and China.
But will he protect against war?
Anything can be assumed. But I can remind you that once a big war could start over nuclear weapons. In 1962, this was when Khrushchev made the decision to deploy Soviet missile weapons in Cuba.
- The so-called Cuban missile crisis … Only Kennedy initially provoked it by deploying American missiles in Italy and Turkey …
- And, nevertheless, then there was a real threat … Therefore, the mere presence of nuclear weapons does not guarantee that there will be no war.
But the presence of such weapons, especially a high degree of combat readiness - i.e. the readiness to deliver a deep retaliatory strike, which is now observed by the strategic forces of the Russian Federation, is a guarantee against a large-scale military invasion. Because in this case unacceptable damage will be inflicted on the enemy.
But this is not a guarantee against the so-called proxy war. Here, of course, in order to be able to protect oneself from paramilitary formations of various kinds, one must have general-purpose forces. And in order to guarantee the observance of their interests far from the Russian shores, the Navy is needed.
That is, it turns out that each type of armed forces has its own functions. Strategic missile forces, like strategic nuclear forces in the air and navy, are designed to provide a deep retaliatory strike. That excludes a large-scale military invasion.
- Do you agree that NATO countries would like to start a war with Russia?
- There are different people in NATO. With different looks. There are probably war supporters among them.
But in order to conduct hostilities, it is necessary that the soldiers of the army are ready to die. Not a victorious march through Red Square. Namely, they were ready to be killed on the battlefield.
I can say that in NATO as a whole, including the United States, the willingness to die is not very high. Especially in European countries. Because Europe did not suffer great sacrifices in the period after World War II. And the armies there are basically not ready to conduct hostilities - not to shoot at a shooting range, but to real combat operations.
Well, maybe with the exception of the UK. And then she is not ready for big sacrifices.
This unwillingness to make big sacrifices, I think, practically excludes war even if there were no nuclear weapons.
Another question is that nuclear weapons are a kind of guarantee. But the guarantee is mutual. Because if we did not have nuclear weapons, we would not come to the Cuban missile crisis.
That is, the conclusion is this: a nuclear shield is not a cure for all ills. But this is the only way to prevent a large-scale military invasion. Nuclear weapons have no other purpose.
Director of the Center for Strategic Conjuncture, military analyst Ivan Konovalov recalled that the main "ringleader" in creating tension in the world is the United States:
- When we talk about the collective West, we must remember that in a militaristic sense, it is the United States that rules everything.
As for Europe, there are different countries. There is the northern flank of NATO, where the "hawks" are absolutely brutal. These are the Baltic countries, Poland, Norway and the UK. But there is the southern flank of countries where Greece, Spain, Italy - they have a fundamentally different position. And then there are countries like Romania that generally try not to interfere in anything.
Therefore, when we talk about the West, we must nevertheless bear in mind that this is, first of all, the United States. And the situation in the USA is now also difficult. There is a war going on between the President and Congress. Therefore, this is what they are now more busy with than everyone else.
- One clearly does not interfere with the other. It is no coincidence that our Sergei Lavrov recently said that "Russophobic obsession in the United States goes beyond all boundaries."
- And yet, when they say that the West has not yet attacked Russia because it is stopped by nuclear weapons, I do not really believe in it. Yes, that was a factor in the 90s. But then another factor also played a role. It seemed that - everything: Russia fell on its knees forever, and will not rise again. Many of us remember how drunken President Yeltsin conducted the Berlin orchestra. Etc. and so on. Of course, then it seemed to them that Russia no longer represented anything …
But when we suddenly announced that these times were over, and Russia is a great power, as it always was, this is where the problems began for our “partners”.
Just believe me, if we are talking about Europe, then there are no warriors left … Who will attack us? They could not even do anything with Afghanistan.
What happened … Trump came to Brussels for the last NATO summit to demand that they begin to participate seriously in the Syrian operation and increase their participation in the Afghan operation. What did you get? Europeans have given up everything. The only thing that was offered to Trump was an explanation why they would not spend two percent of GDP on NATO military spending, which he wanted them to do.
And do you think they will dare to attack Russia? After Russia has shown what it can do? It's not even discussed …
Nuclear weapons do not even play a role here - our two tank divisions will play the main role, if need be.
- But its military might did not save the USSR from collapse …
- Because the Soviet Union collapsed from within. And they are really trying to blow us up from the inside in the same way. We know all these people. We know all these forces. We know who pays them. A hundred years have passed since the great Russian Empire was brought down on German money. But now we see approximately the same picture: again, money is coming from the West to gentlemen liberals who want to repeat the same thing.
Will not work. Everyone knows the price. And no one will fall for this bait. Look who goes to all these rallies … Well-fed, sleek, satisfied with life. Is there at least one working person in these ranks? Not.
But I want to say that nuclear weapons, in principle, have played their role. Because now the main role is played by, let's say, things of value.
We are the country that really defends its sovereignty. He wants to go his own way. She is not going to impose anything on anyone, but she wants to be herself. There are only three such countries in the world today - Russia, India and China. All the rest - one way or another - fell under the United States.
And after that we are bad or what? Of course not.
Victory is within us. We don't need nuclear weapons. The world just sees that we are right. We are the only ones fighting international terrorism in Syria. These portray what they want, but not the fight against terrorists. That's all. And the truth will always prevail. Because, as they say, strength is in truth.