Press review: the follow-up to Moscow’s security offer and the NATO attack by NATO – Press review

Izvestia: NATO approaches Russia’s borders

Ukraine is planning ten large-scale military exercises with NATO participation in 2022, which obviously sounds alarm bells in Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the alliance’s actions appear to encourage bellicose sentiments in Kiev. According to him, these exercises are used as a pretext for Ukraine to try once again to solve its internal problem by force. Previously, he stressed that this kind of escalation of NATO’s presence in the region could have “the most serious consequences” for Ukraine.

“The exercises that Ukraine is conducting with NATO pose a serious threat because they aim to work towards the conduct of a war against Russia. In addition, they can serve as a cover for the deployment of a group of forces. leave, ”military expert Konstantin Sivkov told Izvestia. According to him, Moscow should prepare to hijack military aggression in addition to diplomatic declarations that would involve the creation of groups of forces, the development of new weapons systems and the conduct of exercises.

Former commander of the Russian parachute forces, retired Colonel General Georgy Shpak underlined the large number of exercises underway, during which Ukrainian territory is scrutinized for military purposes. He reiterated that the United States sees China and Russia as enemies and that Ukraine is only a “bargaining chip in this major military game”. His point of view is that we should not expect a positive resolution of these problems until there is a change in the Ukrainian leadership.

“Considering the number of exercises, they can only worry. A document is needed that will provide security guarantees to the Russian Federation,” the director of the Institute of Peacekeeping Initiatives told the newspaper. and conflictology, Denis Denisov. According to him, consultations are underway on such a document. “It is difficult to say what this might look like. As well as to presume that it will be signed. Because it will mean that Ukraine will radically change its position which does not seem particularly encouraging at the moment”, noted the expert. .

Vedomosti: Russian Foreign Ministry makes tough demands on US and NATO to start talks

Russia’s plans for two security treaties with the United States and NATO must be viewed as a whole, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after their publication on December 17. deploy medium-range missiles in Europe, minimize the scale of exercises near Russia’s borders, not station troops in Eastern Europe and other limitations. On December 19, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said NATO officials would discuss Russian proposals within a week.

According to Mikhail Barabanov, an expert at the Center for Strategy and Technology Analysis, the projects would be considered by the West as totally unacceptable. However, it is impossible to reject it entirely because the West will then have to admit that it is completely against any security negotiations with Russia. According to him, the Russian initiative aims to involve the United States in formal talks and then to try to obtain informal results, especially on the enlargement of NATO to include Ukraine.

According to the director general of the Russian Council for International Affairs, Andrei Kortunov, Russian leaders are wary of any agreement with the West that is not legally binding because Moscow remembers too well the verbal pledge of no expansion of the Russian Federation. NATO that was not held. He agrees that Moscow’s demands are unacceptable to the West, but it is possible to reach agreement on restoring confidence and contacts and on containing the deployment of new medium-range missile systems. According to the expert, if the alliance rejects all Russian offers, Moscow will deploy new missile systems and create strategic tension.

The Russian Foreign Ministry wants to demonstrate the validity and seriousness of its position by making such statements, said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine. According to him, Moscow is deliberately worsening the situation in order to force the West to react. However, he believes that the strategic stability in Europe will not be shattered if NATO refuses to discuss with Russia because it is ensured by the Russian-American nuclear parity, which will not disappear anytime soon.

Izvestia: Russian envoy addresses Ukrainian issue, EU involvement in Karabakh conflict and recognition of Sputnik V

Russia’s permanent representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Izvestia about Russian “aggression” against Ukraine, Brussels’ attempts to get involved in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the recognition of vaccine passports.

In response to a question about the West’s numerous accusations that Russia intends to invade Ukraine, the envoy noted that there was no convincing evidence and that all the accusations were based. on unfounded hearsay, however, the rumors were picked up by a number of media outlets. and has become a popular topic at various political events, including the Eastern Partnership summit and the current EU summit.

Referring to the involvement of Brussels in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the diplomat said that there was still a lot of work to be done. A meeting on the sidelines of the Eastern Partnership summit was another opportunity for direct contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders. He stressed that there are issues that these two countries prefer to discuss directly with each other, other issues with the participation of Russia. Still, the EU can be useful in discussing their economic recovery and eliminating the consequences of military actions.

As for the mutual recognition of COVID certificates, the envoy said: “This is a pretty acute problem, not only for us but also for our colleagues in the European Union. There are two parallel processes. One is the recognition of the vaccine itself, Sputnik V in our case. This is the question in which the World Health Organization is involved. Parallel to this is the issue of mutual recognition of certificates. It is not part of the same process. When will all this happen? No one can answer this question now. Hope this will happen sooner rather than later. “

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: migrant workers send billions of dollars home every year

Individuals send $ 6.2 billion annually from Russia to CIS countries, according to the Central Bank. Most of this amount is made up of the earnings of the migrant workers they send home. Some 97.4% of foreign workers support their families in this way.

Russian Federation of Migrants President Vadim Kozhenov said there were around 10 million migrant workers in Russia while only 4% were able to leave at the height of the pandemic. According to him, the number of migrant workers in Russia has not changed significantly over the past year and a half.

The President of the Strategic Research Center (CSR) Vladislav Onishchenko is convinced that the number of migrants in Russia will only increase, that they will occupy higher positions and earn more money, because the Russian economy will not be able to develop without this process. He noted that twice as many people retire than they enter the labor market, and a new workforce to replace them can only come from abroad. Therefore, remittances to neighboring countries where these workers come from will only increase.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Israel may not be ready for war with Iran

Israel may not be ready for a full-scale military scenario regarding Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, experts say. The situation is complicated by Iran’s enhanced defense capabilities. It is quite possible that Israel’s only option is targeted attacks on Iranian nuclear objects.

Retired Israeli Air Force General Relik Shafir noted that the only air force capable of conducting an operation against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is that of the United States. According to him, Tehran has dozens of nuclear factories, some of which are underground, and it will not be possible for Israel to destroy them. In addition, Israel does not have the necessary number of fighter jets to do so.

According to military intelligence forecasts, an escalation would trigger the activation of Hamas, which is in close partnership with Tehran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. Israel also believes Syria, where pro-Iranian irregular formations are active, is also a potential threat. “It is possible that when Israeli planes attempt to land in Israel, they will find that Iranian missiles have destroyed their airstrips,” said Tal Inbar, an anti-missile defense expert, describing a possible military scenario.

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