How could relations between Russia and the West change?

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The G7 summit closed in Bavaria yesterday. As a result of it, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel stated that the G7 countries were ready to stiffen sanctions against Russia, if necessary. The same idea was expressed by President of the US Barack Obama. According to Western leaders, there is “an impassable barrier” in relations between Russia and the West. They mean the merger of Crimea with Russia. However, even the West understands that such global problems as the Syrian crisis and the Iranian nuclear problem cannot be solved without Russia.

However, the head of the department of international organizations and global political processes of the World Politics Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Andrei Sidorov, reminds that if we recall the very beginning of the current administration of Barack Obama, one of the main tasks of it was establishing relations with Russia and the construction of a new ‘‘architecture’’ in the region, which was considered as a point of attraction of the modern world.

According to him, “it is no coincidence that the EU signed an agreement on free trade with South Korea’ in 2010. Now they are holding a number of negotiations with other countries, including Japan and even Vietnam.” “In this sense, frankly speaking, I would stop speaking about Russian-European relations. There are Russian-Euro-Atlantic relations,” the expert believes.

Speaking about the fact that Europe is losing its independence, Andrei Sidorov noted that Angela Merkel was interviewed before the G7 summit, and she repeated the same threats to the world that were listed by President Obama in September. “She named the threats in this sequence: Russia - Ebola - Islamic State. These were the three main threats. Moreover, it wasn't the United States that actively pushed Ukraine, offering to sign the association agreement, which ignited those tragic events that have been taking place in Ukraine,” Sidorov points out.

The expert thinks that the next step is the matter of Transdniestria: “Russian troops are based in Transdniestria. In 2008 an attack on Russian peacekeepers led to clashes with Russian troops. It is important for the US to make an aggressor out of Russia. In 2014 they failed make Russia a threat to world peace, because the majority of the modern world countries continued relations with Russia. Moreover, we can see an improvement of these relations. But what if Russia will be forced to use its armed forces in Ukraine or in Transdniestria? In this case, even those countries which had a good attitude towards Russia will be forced to reconsider our relations. In this case, it will be possible to bring about a real isolation of Russia and make a real enemy of us. It will be the beginning of a Cold War, because there were two superpowers or blocs at the time of the Cold War.”

Andrei Sidorov thinks that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to play this game: “A variety of steps may be taken in order to make us play according to their rules. It is likely there will be a worsening of the situation in the southeast, which can cause another conflict. It is about to happen. The blockade of Transdniestria is being tightened, and I remind you once again that Russian peacekeepers are in Transdniestria under the Russian flag.”