'Stop calling Russia weak' Business Insider writes today. According to the publication, in many Western media it is often written that Russia has lost its former strength. But to speak that way about the country means to underestimate its potential. Even despite the fact that the state's economy has experienced a period of stagnation, which was associated with Western sanctions, Russia remains an important world supplier of oil and gas, in addition to the 2% of global GDP accounted for by the country.
If Moscow was militarily weak, it is unlikely that NATO member states would increase their military presence and spending on defense and renew their planned warning system. According to analysts, the US and Europe's desire is to deepen confrontation with Russia, which will lead to a demonstration of the weakness of the West.
Even despite Russia's dependence on oil prices, in Europe there are no viable alternatives to Russian energy sources, though funds are invested in alternative sources of energy. Even the Western sanctions imposed to weaken the state failed to hurt adequately the country's economy, largely due to the tactics and strategy of the Kremlin leadership. That is why calling Russia weak is at least an error and shortsighted, because no matter how strong the propaganda is, the state's actions speak for themselves.
US independent information portal Real Clear Politics writes today that the rhetoric of Obama about Russia is beginning to tire. Criticism of Moscow by the US administration is not surprising, but it is becoming inconsistent and ineffective. In fact, not all that bad, but the US leadership did not have enough determination to build a productive relationship with Russia, either by virtue of mutual claims, or because of the inaccuracy of the foreign policy of Washington.
The so-called "tough talk" with Russia was manifested in military assistance to Ukraine, which neither contributes to a settlement of relations with the Kremlin, nor to an end of the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow, in turn, tries to preserve the integrity of its borders and is open to negotiations with all countries, including the United States. However, this is not enough for the US leadership. Striving for geopolitical supremacy, it still tries to influence Russia if not by military means, pulling a contingent of NATO to the borders of the state, then economically, threatening it with an extension of sanctions.
However, President Putin has taken countermeasures to prevent confrontations, which could escalate into open aggression. Negotiations with John Kerry, trying to find common ground, prove that the policy of "tough talk" is hardly acceptable for Russia. It would be much more effective to establish a constructive dialogue. However, the US recently has lost quite a few allies in the world and continues to configure entire regions against the country. It is not known what this will lead to, but the fact that they are not going to be pleasant for the United States is already obvious today.
The New York Times writes today about the threat posed by Iran and North Korea. Pending agreement on Iran's nuclear program, the balance of the West has once again been broken by the news that North Korean experts visited Iran's nuclear facilities. How does this threaten the US and Europe? With the emerging of two allies with nuclear weapons on the world stage, which are unlikely to be scared by sanctions or the threat of military intervention.
While the United States is trying every possible way to control the conditions under which the agreement will be signed, and which in many respects are not satisfying for Iran, the Islamic Republic looks and successfully finds partners such as Russia and North Korea. The problem of the Western countries is that in an effort to control the Middle East region, they forget about the interests of the countries in the region which are posing a threat, both economic and strategic, to Europe and to the United States.
So far, Iran is making every effort to ensure the agreement will be signed, however, in the case of failure of the negotiations on its nuclear program, Iran will not remain in isolation and will be surrounded by powerful allies.
