Top Experts: Russia Should Act Unilaterally in Ukraine, TIme to Fight Back Against Western Encroachment

- The US press has it in for Trump as his tweet provoked a boost in oil prices, which is said to be for Russia's benefit and replenish its budget. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: And aluminum sanctions boosted aluminum by 15%. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: I agree that we shouldn't intimidate people, on the one hand. But, on the other hand, it's obvious that a showdown is inevitable, which will only enhance tensions globally, including Russia-US relations. How much will the situation degrade? Will that be reduced to Twitter diplomacy? That’s a different matter. But I think Trump's only option is to deliver a blow. A blow against Syria, military facilities there, will be delivered. It's almost 100%. We should understand that it's not North Korea. Here he can act, as he thinks, with impunity. It's all the more so as they already did it. Actually, they got away with it. We discussed that a lot, but decided to refrain from retaliatory actions. So, since they succeeded once, why not repeat it? Firstly, they're certain to act. The question is what their blow will target and how much massive it will be. Secondly, this time we'll have to respond somehow anyway. We could intercept US missiles or eliminate US allies afterward. We'll see what they do, and our response should be proportionate. Though, we must admit that we follow the US logic in this case instead of imposing our own rules. It's good that our warships are heading there, Gerasimov's warnings are understandable, but still they have momentum now, and we are reduced to considering possible responses. In any case, we'll have to respond through military means on Syria's territory. And this response must disavow any allegations that Russia is punished. Since Trump offered our President to share the responsibility for what happened in Syria, after a US blow the US propaganda will claim that it's Russia who is punished. Yes, Bashar Assad will be punished, but they'll have to pervert the issue to show that Russia is punished. In our turn, we'll have to respond in such a way that would disavow such speculations. Generally, it means a dangerous escalation. I guess we shouldn't deceive each other. But, undoubtedly, we can't leave a US blow without our response. Not this time. Thus, now as the situation is playing out, we should make use of as many channels as possible to convey to them that it's all very serious. It's not about intimidation, but unfortunately, things look nasty. What's behind it? A collusion of global thugs or anything like this? Or, among other things, Trump's insane Twitter diplomacy? Incredible degradation of politics? I think it's a combination of factors. But the question is who manipulates whom. It's the scenario that, I believe, will play out. We should bear this in mind. Mikhail Remizov, head of the National Strategy Institute: It is logical to assume that hits, spits and slaps will continue unless Russia responds to them because those who deliver them don't pay the price for it. I agree that a blow is likely. But it is unlikely to be reverse the war in Syria, that is, shatter Assad's position. It will rather come as a slap for Russia, a blow against Assad, a slap for Russia. It will be necessary to respond to it somehow in Syria. I agree that, indeed, we'll have to choose a right option. But I believe that our major response must take place in Russia and Ukraine. In Ukraine we have more room for maneuver, and it's there that we must gain momentum. There, the stage of sitting back is coming to an end. We've spent quite a long time sitting back, which makes us lose on points now. We've been behind on points over the past several years. It's not a knock-out yet, but a low score. Consequently, we must gain momentum in Ukraine, stop this bluff with the Minsk agreements, refuse the delusion that the conflict in Ukraine can be settled through a compromise with the West. It's wrong. It can only be settled through our weighed, but unilateral actions. - Being active, let's put it so. - Yes, being active without hoping that we'll be proposed to reach agreement. You've mentioned the aliens. Indeed, it's hard to wage a geo-economic war against the West before taking simple security measures like limiting profiteering on the domestic market, financial and exchange control, repatriation of assets, returning money from the US bonds, in fact, the evacuation of Russian assets from the US bonds. Such a response should largely be the main response. I don't think our foes will do everything instead of us. Some decisions will be up to us. There's a so-called salami tactics, for example, sanctions are introduced slice by slice. - Got used to the pain? Take this! - So, they cut the cat's tail inch by inch. - If the DPR and the LPR hadn't been stopped in 2014, there would be no Nazism in Ukraine. I'd only favor it. We don't need to occupy the territory, this isn't about it. We'd just let Ukrainians decide on Ukraine's fate without the Nazi, that's it. Of course, now it's hard to make estimations, those were 4 difficult years. Decision-makers might have proceed from the assumption that any clash between Russians and Ukrainians, wherever they live, is a horrible tragedy as well as casualties. But now casualties are enormous. And the life in the DPR and the LPR is terrible. People there are up in the air. We mustn't forget about them. We are responsible before them. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: We should consider one thing. If the Russian Federation doesn't interfere, as Misha says, it's not about occupation or our intervention, we can assume that Ukraine has been torn by the civil war for the past 4 years. - But that's the case. It's true. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: But, nevertheless, the phrasing... However, Dmitry, informational interpretation will be important to those who are observing this situation from a distance. This informational factor must be considered. This will be important to our partners and to those who we consider allies. It will be important for those who are observing the situation from outside. For instance, there was a conference on security recently, we discussed it. 95 countries attended it. Why? They think Russia is using force. If the situation changes, if it looks differently, perhaps, not all 95 will attend the next conference, but only half or one-third of them will. That's first. Second, it's important for the well-being of Russian citizens. We must realize we're advancing this situation for them. We claim to have a firm position, then we must act firmly, too. When it comes to growing tensions, our response, whatever it is, will give the West a reason to condemn us and promote this chain of events. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: Why are you worried about that? Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: We're not worried. We're just discussing how things might proceed and trying to consider all the facts. Vladimir, you asked a good question during the break. What if Trump doesn't do anything? We discussed it because it's possible, hypothetically. I don't think it's likely to happen, but it's possible. Amid Trump's clown style that he chose to represent himself, we can expect any tricks. I don't know if this is Trump's nature or he really feels it and this bluff is deliberate. Indeed, amid his odd Twitter-diplomacy style, which Obama had actually started, amid his travesty, if I may, he might do a back somersault and say, 'I have actually won, you just haven't noticed,' just like he did with North Korea. That situation kept escalating for a long time, and now he's ready to meet with Kim Jong-un. And in the US, his team serve it as their victory, as far as I know. They say that due to them sending their carrier groups there, and that they promised to wipe out North Korea, Kim Jong-un has met them halfway. That's regarding the informational picture. That's the real informational picture. - It takes place in the US. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: And they're getting away with it. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: That's not good. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: I mean, as compared to the rest of the world. The rest of the world understands that the US thinks it's the unipole. But, they can't handle North Korea. This is an authentic effect. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist:Not everyone knows it, Europe doesn't. In theory, we understand it's their loss. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: Europe the same as the US. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: In theory, this situation is possible. Perhaps, if we explained it to them very thoroughly, if we've expressed our absolute preparedness for a rigid collision, they might pick on the way the OPCW mission is working. Who knows? I personally think the chances for this are low. They will have to do something. - Or they could ask for an urgent meeting with Putin. - Sure, that's an option, too, but it would also be a retreat. We can say it would be a display of gunboat diplomacy. They can say this meeting with Putin was forced and will bring the issue to a head, saying they sent their ships there, forcing Russia to negotiate. Is it possible? In theory. Dmitry Kulikov, political scientist and journalist: We don't know for sure. It appears to be an informational interpretation, but in fact, it's the Cuban missile crisis. - We don't know if Putin would want this. It's a crucial factor. This is what he does, trying to obtain a powerful trading position. He tries to speculate for a rise, creating trading positions. Sergey Mikheev, political scientist: In our country, we often hear demands to give politics to businesses, it'll be good. Trump is a businessman. He fully displays the peculiarities of business thinking: constant bluffing, attempts to demonstrate power where there is none, and unsystematic ambivalence that might cost him a lot, both domestically and globally. Look at him, this is this person's approach to these issues. We saw it happen to us in the 1990s and in the 2000s. We saw their approach. We recently spoke about aliens, our aliens. Aliens will probably be harder to deal with than Trump, our aliens have secret weapon, which is a constant talk about the need to make up with the US, since we have allegedly targeted the inflation. Everything is wonderful. Why aren't you happy?