Exercises of the engineering assault unit of the Southern Military District in the Rostov Region. File photoMOSCOW, Feb. 6 Dmitry Simes, publisher and CEO of the American magazine National Interest, spoke about the only, in his opinion, possible scenario for the outbreak of a hypothetical armed conflict in Ukraine. The political scientist said that in December he talked with unnamed him by representatives of the Russian political elite, who assured him that Moscow had no aggressive plans.
"I have not heard a single mention of the possibility of a major Russian invasion, simply because Moscow's demands for NATO not to expand and not to strengthen the alliance in Eastern Europe have not been met. In Moscow, all interlocutors deny such a possibility", Simes emphasized.
At the same time, the author of the article declared the determination of the Russian side in the event of aggression against him. “If Russia is attacked, it will not hesitate to give a decisive answer,” the magazine’s general director concluded. In recent months, relations between Russia and the West have become even more tense. Washington and Brussels accuse Moscow of preparing an «invasion» of Ukraine and, against this background, are strengthening their presence in Eastern Europe. about Russia’s “invasion” of UkraineRussia rejects all claims and reminds that Kiev does not comply with the Minsk agreements: the Ukrainian authorities have concentrated half of the army’s personnel near the line of contact and are firing at militias from prohibited weapons. The Kremlin and the Foreign Ministry have repeatedly noted that the purpose of throwing «aggression» — to build up a foreign grouping at the Russian borders. They also explained that the main reason for the escalation of the situation is the actions of the United States and NATO, which are pumping weapons to Ukraine, thereby pushing it to military adventures. At the end of last year, Russia handed over draft documents on security guarantees to the United States and its allies. The main demand was the non-expansion of NATO to the East, however, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, it was precisely its Western partners that ignored it in a written response. Russians with bare hands