(MOSCOW) – A prominent Russian political commentator has declared that post-Soviet nations exist solely at Russia’s discretion, arguing that Moscow must abandon what he described as decades of appeasement and tie economic benefits directly to political subservience.
Speaking on the state television programme “Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov,” political scientist Sergey Mikheyev told host Vladimir Solovyov and State Duma member Semyon Bagdasarov that the West is waging war on Russia and has no intention of stopping. “The West is at war with us and is not going to stop. That is clear to everyone,” Mikheyev said. “We must stop deluding ourselves with illusions.”
Mikheyev dismissed calls for peace negotiations as foolishness. “We can stop commenting on this stupidity. Nobody is going to make peace with us. They are at war with us. The task has been set to destroy us. And that means we must win this war,” he stated.
Turning to Armenia ahead of its elections, Mikheyev endorsed recent remarks by Vladimir Putin and a joint statement by European leaders as “completely correct and timely.” He then warned Armenians that European promises of prosperity were fraudulent. “They are holding you for idiots,” Mikheyev said. “Look at the recent history of countries being accepted into the European Union. What actually happened after all those promises, and what is happening now in Ukraine, which because of this EU membership ended up in a situation of a most brutal war. The idea is to promise you money today in order to push you into war tomorrow.”
He urged viewers to consult a map and ask Georgians, who were long promised EU membership, and Moldovans, whom he claimed are being drawn into conflict over Transnistria, about the consequences of Western overtures. “You cannot allow yourselves to be deceived like children,” he added.
Mikheyev called for a fundamental overhaul of Russia’s relations with post-Soviet states. “Economic preferences in exchange for strategic and political loyalty,” he said, “not talk about whether this is profitable or unprofitable.” He asserted that Russia is “the sole and main guarantor of the existence of post-Soviet states.”
“As long as Russia agrees with your borders, you exist. That is offensive, unpleasant, and so on. But that is how it is. As long as Russia agrees with this division of the former Russian Empire into these republics, where many borders were drawn completely at random, everyone knows this. Ukraine is a good example, or perhaps a bad example, but an illustrative one. As long as Russia agrees to your existence, you exist. Stop agreeing, and you will have a mass of problems,” Mikheyev declared.
He attributed scepticism among post-Soviet populations to what he characterised as decades of Russian weakness. “For several decades we kept making concessions. We kept playing along with their narrative that Russia was a coloniser, an occupier, and therefore Russia owes them. Go to any of these republics and listen to what they say and teach in schools. Everywhere it runs through, that Russia is bad, Russia is an occupier,” he said.
“The same situation led to Ukraine. We spent a long time making concessions. We spent a long time listening to what Ukraine was telling us, and look where it led,” Mikheyev continued. Addressing Armenians directly, he said, “Listen, look, think, and make some kind of choice. Make a decision.”
The broadcast aired as the Kremlin continues efforts to maintain influence over former Soviet republics, several of which have distanced themselves from Moscow since the full scale invasion of Ukraine.
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