Heated debates. Top stories Sunday
Evening with Vladimir Solovyov
- Washington is preparing a Trojan horse for Russia. The Pentagon is developing a new engagement strategy: infiltration of enemy territory and strikes against its weak spots but not the strong ones. If that's the strategy the US is practicing in Venezuela, then it's too early to be worried. They're failing to push their so-called humanitarian convoys across the Colombian-Venezuelan border. But there's another line of operations. The US Marines are training to fight an unusual enemy in winter conditions. The commander of the US Navy said that the Arctic isn't anybody's waters. Poland has already been promised to get a lot of what it wants.
The more I follow international news the more I feel that, firstly, the level of analytics in the world has slumped and, secondly, that everyone is extremely careless with their comments. The people who used to do their job silently suddenly began opening their mouths and saying utter nonsense. How can one seriously make the following statement: "We'll deploy F-35 jets to Russia, and if Russia or China notice one deep in their territory they should know that it's not there alone." What's that all about, Ariel?
Ariel Cohen: I don't know whom you're quoting but that sounds absurd.
- The Chief of Staff of the US Air Force.
- Is that so?
- Yes. That's the scary part.
Ariel Cohen, political analyst: Well, that's unfortunate. Well, speaking about the issue you've mentioned, I believe that the new global media system... Twitter, Facebook (запрещена в РФ), some regional Russian politicians have popular Instagram (запрещена в РФ) accounts, even though I don't have Instagram... All of those things make it possible for officials to say things that they previously couldn't say without their superiors' permission. Sometimes they were told to sit with their mouth shut. I'm considered an old-fashioned person now, but I believe that this system is good for private conversations between diplomats or carefully phrased statements from senior officials. But when everyone starts yapping on Twitter we end up with muddle instead of music.
- By the way, a brilliant question: Whom is Trump supposed to ask for permission?
- Nobody.
- He's our Twitter star though.
- Trump shouldn’t... Trump shouldn't tweet so recklessly. I'm sorry but everyone in Washington but mangy dogs has told him that. Everybody told him: "Dear Trump, we understand that you have a lot of plans, you have a wall to build on the Mexican border, and a loving relationship with Kim to establish, but stop telling us that seven times a day. It won't do any good." But from Trump's point of view, he's also right. He's circumventing all of the filters of the elite mass media, CNN and the New York Times, who don't like him, and tells the truth directly to his voters. That's also understandable, but it's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about some deputy ministers, chiefs of staff, and ambassadors shouldn't be saying that especially when talking about nuclear power. With all due respect to your favorite, Maria Zakharova, I believe that she's also gone too far in the subject that I'm talking about.
- And I believe she hasn't gone far enough. I would go harder on them. Sorry.
Igor Morozov, senator of the Federation Council:
- If we analyze everything that's been said by the Pentagon and the White House over the last six months, we'll see that militant psychosis in on the rise. The statement by the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force about $135 billion dollars being allocated for developing the mere concept of the infiltration of Russian and Chinese territory…
- 135?
- 135 billion. I checked…
Ariel Cohen: You must've misunderstood something.
- Look, I checked several sources several times. I thought, maybe "millions"?
- That money might be for the preparation…
- Once again It will require…
- That's the official data.
- It will require about a year to develop the concept, which requires $135 billion.
- David Goldfein said that.
- I'll make it easier for you to imagine. Last year, the development of a hypersonic missile cost the US $58 million from the black budget.
- I believe David just mixed up the figures.
- What we're discussing here is that the Chief of Staff, the brain of the US Air Force may say what is true and only what he plans to do.
- That was his speech at the Brookings Institute.
- Right. That's why all of the following points expressed in his speech at the Brookings Institution sounded confusing because…
- Do I get it right, that deep covert infiltration, without or with warning alike, into our territory signifies the beginning of a war?
- And the main thing is that it's basically impossible. He stressed that the F-35 jets would coordinate with every arm and branch of the US Armed Forces.
- That will have already infiltrated our territory, yes?
- I can't even imagine what the brain of the US Air Force meant by this.
- Was the brain of the US Air Force sober at the time?
- Only the listeners who attended his lecture might know that. However, we…
Ariel Cohen: The F-35 is a jet that received a lot of bad reviews.
- We know, we've already discussed that.
- It can barely fly at Mach 2.2…
- Ariel, He might be promoting the F-35 jets — produced by Lockheed.
- Lockheed Martin. Right.
- Right, Lockheed Market.
- Martin That might be the reason that he addressed that matter. But against this background, we see other military chiefs getting bolder with their statements. Take the British, for instance, who are talking about reinforcing NATO's left flank, right flank, on the Arctic coast.
- The British?
- The British, yes.
- What are they going to reinforce it with?
- Some new resources, perhaps in the form of a brigade that is to be deployed to the Arctic by summer.
- Didn't they recently say that the situation is so bad that they could only fight Russia for about a few hours? Didn't they recently complain that they're in crisis?
- Vladimir, we're talking about how abnormal this is. Even Ariel realizes that everything said by the current political establishment…
- What do you mean by "even Ariel"?
- Let him finish, please, Ariel. You're supposed to be defending the interests of that political class.
- But we see that it's politically and militarily strategic absurdities that the NATO-countries keep repeating one after another. When we hear that we might get problems within our zone of interest in our Arctic territory we can't help but wonder. It's been our Arctic Military District for several years. It's equipped with the newest weapons. The troops take part in military maneuvers in Arctic condition, unlike the US Marines, who train in the mountains of California.
- Ariel, you've started speaking.
Ariel Cohen: Yes, I started saying that if we consider not just the air space, but the outer space along with it, it could drive us crazy very quickly, as the USA has announced the creation of its Military Space Forces, Russia has them already, China is developing in this field very rapidly. If, in the 21st century, we go as far as waging war in cyberspace, while at the same time using nuclear weapon, especially all those hypersonic missiles, on the backdrops of air and space being a single battlespace, then, of course, neither you nor I will remain alive to celebrate the great victory. Nobody will remain. That's why…
- But we'll all go to heaven. Not sure about you.
- We've already heard this joke.
- It's not a joke, it's a prophecy.
- It's not funny.
- No, it's a prophecy. It's not a joke.
- It's not funny.
- It's nothing to laugh about.
- Because there won't be much of a difference between hell and heaven. That's why…
- It's something new in theology.
- Yes, yes, yes. That is why, as it seems to me, we need to see what Trump will manage to do with the Chinese. Will he manage to secure some kind of tactical truce in the economic and trade war with China? And then, all of us in this triangle of the USA, Russia, and China will need to think very seriously of how to all take a step back together. If it doesn't happen, then my respected colleagues here, who are already confident that WWIII is imminent, may become prophets. But do you remember Stalin's citation by Solzhenitsyn? "There won't be a war, but there'll be a struggle for peace that won't leave one stone left unturned." We wouldn't like, I wouldn't like, to live to see such a struggle for peace.
