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Dmitry Kiselev: Mr President, what happened to Emmanuel Macron ? Has he gone nuts ? He is going to send French troops against our army. He looks like a fighting Gallic rooster and has scared all Europeans. How should one take it ?
Vladimir Putin: In fact, the Western countries' military personnel have been present in Ukraine for a long time. They had been there before the coup d'état, and after the coup their number has grown several times. Today they are involved both directly as military advisers and as foreign mercenaries, and they suffer casualties. Yet I am certain that even if foreign countries are to send their troops officially, it will not change the situation on the ground – and this is the most important thing because arms supplies change nothing.
Second, it can lead to serious geopolitical consequences. If, say, Polish troops enter Ukrainian territory, allegedly for the protection of, say, the border between Belarus and Ukraine, or some other parts, to release Ukrainian troops and enable them to fight along the contact line, I think, Polish troops will stay there. That is what I believe. It is their heart's desire to get back the lands they have historically regarded as theirs, the lands that ”Father of the Peoples“ Joseph Stalin took from them and gave to Ukraine. They certainly want to have these lands back. So if Polish troops enter Ukraine, they will hardly ever leave it.
In such a case, this example might be followed by other countries that lost parts of their territories after the Second World War. I think that Ukraine would face geopolitical consequences – at least as regards preserving its current statehood – in their full and unappealing magnitude.
Dmitry Kiselev: Going back to Mr Macron, could he be revenging himself on Russia for having taken him down a peg or two in Africa instead of playing nice and obedient ? He did not expect Russia to be so active, did he ?
Vladimir Putin: Yes, I believe that might be a matter of some hard feelings, but when we maintained direct contacts with him we used to discuss this topic rather openly.
We have never thrust our way to Africa, neither have we squeezed France out of there. The problem has a different source. There is a well-known Wagner group, which initially pursued a number of economic projects in Syria and subsequently spread its activities to some other countries in Africa. It has enjoyed the support of the Ministry of Defence, but only because it is a Russian group, no more. We have not squeezed anybody out of Africa. Rather, the leaders of some African countries had dealings with some Russian economic players and wanted to work with them, rather than with the French ones, in some areas. This was not our, but our African friends' initiative.
So it is not clear, what we are to blame for in this connection, if an independent state wants to develop its ties with partners from other countries, including from Russia, wants to build its relations with Russia. We have not touched these former French colonists in those African countries. Without a touch of irony, many countries, for which France historically was a mother country, are very reluctant to deal with it. It is none of our fault. It might be more convenient to France to pin the blame on somebody else than to acknowledge its own faults. The French President's sharp and emotional reaction might be explained, among other things, by the developments in some African states.
However, I know that there are other African countries, those that have no objections against French presence and say that they are happy and ready to work with the French. Yet some countries are not. It is not our doing. We are not brainwashing anybody and not inciting any anti-French sentiments there.
We set ourselves no such tasks. To be frank, Russia has no state or national goals to pursue there. We merely maintain friendly ties. If they prefer to build their relations with Russia, they are most welcome, we reciprocate such steps. There is nothing to be offended with.
Dmitry Kiselev: But now they are saying in France that there are no longer any ”red lines“ left with regard to Russia, nothing is impossible and everything is possible. In general, they want to talk to us somehow on the basis of the balance of power. We hear a lot of things from France, from the West, and from Lithuania. In general, the chorus is not slender, but hostile.
Maybe we, too, should go for unconventional solutions and at some point seek help from the two-million-strong North Korean army ? For example, in exchange for our ”nuclear umbrella“ over half of the Korean peninsula ? Why not then ?
Vladimir Putin: First of all, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has its own ”nuclear umbrella.“ They didn't ask us for anything. That's the first point.
Second. In principle, based on what we see on the battlefield, we are coping with the tasks we set ourselves.
As for the states saying that they have no ”red lines“ with Russia, they should realise that Russia will have no ”red lines“ with them either.
As for small European states, first, we treat everyone with respect, no matter what. Second, when these small states call for toughening the policy towards Russia and taking some extreme measures, including, say, the deployment of troops and so on, they are still those states, and they understand this, which will not feel the consequences of their provocative statements. And those who may feel it, keep a low profile. And rightly so.
Dmitry Kiselev: And all that German dancing with the Taurus missiles ? Mr Scholz says, ”we do not supply,“ but there are forces that insist on sending the Taurus missiles to Ukraine, the British propose their initiative: let's do it via England, we are ready to send. The target is the Crimean Bridge, the German generals are already planning operations, as we have heard, not only targeting the Crimean Bridge, but also military bases, as they say, deep inside the Russian territory. Some are already saying these missiles could hit the Kremlin. Don't they go too far in their dreams ?
Vladimir Putin: First, they are dreaming and cheering themselves up. Second, they are trying to intimidate us.
As for Germany, there are constitutional problems there as well. They are right when they say that if the Taurus missiles hit that part of the Crimean Bridge, which is certainly, even according to their concepts, part of the Russian territory, this is a violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The fact is that German opposition is behaving even more aggressively. We will see what they will agree on. We are following this closely. British and American missiles are also used. But this does not change the situation on the battlefield. Yes, they're causing damage to us, of course, that's obvious. But, in essence, it does not affect the course of hostilities and the consequences that are inevitable for the other side.
We are now hearing that in Germany – both your channels and foreign channels, German channels, show – how much they have, how much is in a bad state, how much requires improvement, modernisation, and so on. Let them work. As you have rightly said, there are things they should think about. Those who are smarter think about it.
Dmitry Kiselev: And the new NATO members, Finland and Sweden, in general, what did they trade for what ? Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström suddenly told the Turks that Sweden was against NATO bases on the Swedish territory. Didn't they realise what they had joined ? What happened to them ?
Vladimir Putin: You have to ask them, I don't know. We had quite good relations, stable relations with those countries, and I think that they benefited more from the fact that they adhered to neutrality, because it gave certain advantages, at least as a negotiating platform to reduce tension in Europe.
We had a perfect relationship with Finland, just perfect. We didn't have a single claim against each other, much less a territorial one, I am not talking about other areas. We didn't even have any troops there; we had removed everything from the Russian-Finnish border. Why did they do that? For purely political reasons, I think. I guess they really wanted to be a member of a Western club, under some kind of ”umbrella.“ Why did they do that, I frankly don't understand. This is a totally senseless step in terms of safeguarding their own national interests. However, it's up to them to decide, and they made that decision.
We didn't have any troops there, now we will. There were no weapon systems, now there will be. Why? We had very good economic relations. They used our market, we bought a lot from them. What's wrong with that? Now the situation will change. Many of their goods are not really needed in other markets, and they're missing out on our goods. I don't understand it.
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AW: Krisenherd Ukraine ab Mai 2023
Zitat von Valdyn
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>>>>>> ... werde Deutschlandretter und wähle AfD ....
*LOL*
