The U.S. intelligence agencies have no proof that Russia is responsible for the Malaysian Boeing crash in the Donetsk Oblast on July 17, yet insist that the plane was accidentally shot down by militia in Luhansk and Donetsk. According to Interfax, intelligence officials presented satellite shots and data from social networks meant to prove that the plane could possibly have been shot down using a Russian-made SA-11 missile by militia in the eastern part of Ukraine. They could not confirm the validity of the materials from social networks. According to U.S. intelligence, the militia could be unaware that they were shooting down a civilian airliner. Besides, the missile could have been launched by unskilled soldiers.
U.S. President Barack Obama discussed anti-Russian sanctions with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte. According to the White House, the sides agreed that Russia continued sending weapons to the east of Ukraine and rallying forces in boundary areas.
Political analyst Sergey Mikheyev gave his own interpretation of the reasons for Washington’s pressure on Moscow: “Americans want to part Europe and Russia, reorient Europe toward itself, make it pass sanctions at its own expense to influence the Russian economy. They are pursuing the tactical goal of influencing the internal political situation in Russia. In their opinion, sanctions should first of all force Russian business to put pressure on the Kremlin and, secondly, should worsen the lives of the population, so the population should take part in Bolotnaya Squares more actively and put pressure on the Kremlin too, demanding it to refrain from quarreling with the West, or maybe even change the regime in the Kremlin.”
The tactic, according to Mikheyev, stays within the technology of the “colour revolutions,” but it will hardly work: “No matter how harmful the 23 years of development in the post-Soviet space have been, in terms of slandering ideas of patriotism, we see more a consolidation of Russian society in a critical situation than a strengthening of a domestic confrontation. It is possible against the background of maintaining a relatively high level of prosperity, but such methods do not work.”
The political analyst is adamant that “the West, headed by the Americans, is trying to use Ukraine to revive the Cold War rhetoric. NATO has been searching for a reason for existing after the fall of the Soviet Union for a long time, it is either terrorists, or fights with Al-Qaeda. And suddenly they rejoice: Russia again, they can sharpen their teeth over Russia. If you want to put the issue this way, we can reconsider our priorities in this aspect, although it is obvious that the sincere attempts by the Russian Federation are at least cooperation in the economic sphere and partnership with respect for national interests, not confrontation with the West.”
Meanwhile, the main advantage of Russia is nuclear weapons: “If there were no nuclear weapons, they would have been talking with us completely differently. It allows us to remain one of the leading players on the global arena. We remain the only country capable of destroying the U.S. in a military confrontation, or at least cause irrecoverable losses. That is why the Americans, no matter how we turn it, have to take it into account. As long as Russia can launch an adequate counter-attack, there will be no Third World War.”
The U.S. tactic stays within the logic of the “colour revolutions,” but hardly worksThe U.S. intelligence agencies have no proof that Russia is responsible for the Malaysian Boeing crash in the Donetsk Oblast on July 17, yet insist that the plane was accidentally shot down by militia in Luhansk and Donetsk. According to Interfax, intelligence officials presented satellite shots and data from social networks meant to prove that the plane could possibly have been shot down using a Russian-made SA-11 missile by militia in the eastern part of Ukraine. They could not confirm the validity of the materials from social networks. According to U.S. intelligence, the militia could be unaware that they were shooting down a civilian airliner. Besides, the missile could have been launched by unskilled soldiers.U.S. President Barack Obama discussed anti-Russian sanctions with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte. According to the White House, the sides agreed that Russia continued sending weapons to the east of Ukraine and rallying forces in boundary areas.Political analyst Sergey Mikheyev gave his own interpretation of the reasons for Washington’s pressure on Moscow: “Americans want to part Europe and Russia, reorient Europe toward itself, make it pass sanctions at its own expense to influence the Russian economy. They are pursuing the tactical goal of influencing the internal political situation in Russia. In their opinion, sanctions should first of all force Russian business to put pressure on the Kremlin and, secondly, should worsen the lives of the population, so the population should take part in Bolotnaya Squares more actively and put pressure on the Kremlin too, demanding it to refrain from quarreling with the West, or maybe even change the regime in the Kremlin.”The tactic, according to Mikheyev, stays within the technology of the “colour revolutions,” but it will hardly work: “No matter how harmful the 23 years of development in the post-Soviet space have been, in terms of slandering ideas of patriotism, we see more a consolidation of Russian society in a critical situation than a strengthening of a domestic confrontation. It is possible against the background of maintaining a relatively high level of prosperity, but such methods do not work.”The political analyst is adamant that “the West, headed by the Americans, is trying to use Ukraine to revive the Cold War rhetoric. NATO has been searching for a reason for existing after the fall of the Soviet Union for a long time, it is either terrorists, or fights with Al-Qaeda. And suddenly they rejoice: Russia again, they can sharpen their teeth over Russia. If you want to put the issue this way, we can reconsider our priorities in this aspect, although it is obvious that the sincere attempts by the Russian Federation are at least cooperation in the economic sphere and partnership with respect for national interests, not confrontation with the West.”Meanwhile, the main advantage of Russia is nuclear weapons: “If there were no nuclear weapons, they would have been talking with us completely differently. It allows us to remain one of the leading players on the global arena. We remain the only country capable of destroying the U.S. in a military confrontation, or at least cause irrecoverable losses. That is why the Americans, no matter how we turn it, have to take it into account. As long as Russia can launch an adequate counter-attack, there will be no Third World War.
