Forever yesterday's Russia

I don't know, maybe it was a revelation for his boss Patrushev and the rest of the Russian beau monde. And maybe they traditionally close their eyes to reality, following the example of their own "king", who lives in his own world, far from reality, constructed by his teachers and advisers.

However, if we take into account one detail that mass communication experts talk about, it is quite possible to understand both Venediktov and the rest. Sooner or later, people become hostages of their own point of view, if they are not inclined to share alternative ones. In the Kremlin, they have become accustomed to the fictional world of Russian propaganda, and are unable to escape from the enchanted circle of stereotypes, lies and manipulation.

The third world war did not start yesterday and not the day before yesterday. The Moscow regime solved it a long time ago. The so-called Munich speech of Putin in 2007 became the justification for this war and the justification for the following ones. And then Russia attacked Georgia in 2008. At that time, however, the "locality" of the conflict and the apparent "familiality" (taking into account the attitude of the West towards the countries of the post-Soviet space at the time) softened a more global view of that ancient war.

And in 2014, when Russia annexed the Ukrainian Crimea and invaded the Ukrainian Donbas, the Third World War took on a new dimension — it became a European war. Yes, Europe was then still basking in its own frivolity and complacency, not suspecting that the enemy of Ukraine would become its enemy very soon. As Casey Michel of The Wall Street Journal writes: "After the seizure of Crimea, a sotto voce (half voice) consensus emerged in the West." Only the eastern flank of the EU and NATO, "new Europe" shuddered, remembering Bucharest-1953 and Prague-1968. But who cares about neophytes?

Venediktov can breed assumptions as much as he wants. The fact remains: the Third World War has been going on in Europe (if we take cyberspace into account, then globally) for almost 15 years. As well as the fact that Ukraine has actually "joined" NATO, not least "thanks" to the Russian invasion. Because the Alliance supplies Ukraine with the latest weapons, helps with the training of defenders, after all, it shares the Ukrainian defense doctrine that Russia is the biggest threat to European security.

The Alliance responds unequivocally and categorically to any further increase in Putin's "bets" in this geopolitical game. NATO is with Ukraine as long as it needs support. NATO has formulated its position in case Putin decides on the suicidal idea of ​​using nuclear weapons against Ukraine. And this position is not weak, as Moscow would like.

Venediktov, as is usual for Russian high-ranking officials, did not avoid false theses. He said that the Alliance will not take into account the position of its eastern members, because "more serious states, and Brussels itself, reacted to this initiative (Ukraine's application to join the bloc. - Author) without enthusiasm and immediately issued a standard set of counterarguments: non-compliance with the standards of the bloc, presence of territorial disputes, etc." The thesis, which is desirable for the Kremlin, however, is already the day before yesterday.

This archaic nature of Russia was emphasized even by the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, noting that, in his opinion, the Russian leadership views the war against Ukraine as "part of a great crusade."

Jens Stoltenberg, declaring that "the priority will be to strengthen the air defense of Ukraine", for some reason did not dwell on the "inconsistency of standards", but rather only asserted that now the Alliance has a different criterion, that Ukraine is currently forming NATO standards itself.

The Secretary General also unequivocally warned Russia in response to its nuclear blackmail: "We are here to protect and defend all allies...". It is known that the position of the British Prime Minister is very categorical: she is ready to use nuclear weapons without warning in response to a nuclear attack by Russia.

Following him, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also stated absolutely categorically: "Any nuclear attack against Ukraine will create a response. Not a nuclear response, but such a powerful response from the military side that the Russian army will be completely destroyed."

But Russia, as always, is forever yesterday. There, they are still rejoicing in illusions about the "collapse of NATO and the EU", cherishing hopes for a "general frost" that will throw European citizens to their knees, and they, in turn, will rebel against the governments, demanding warmth and light. But this argument does not work either. Europe is ready. Ukraine, of course, too.

And NATO? The time will come, and we will formalize our relations with the bloc. Russia may not even doubt this...

About the author. Ihor Hulyk is a journalist, editor-in-chief of the website Espreso. Zahid.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.