The message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Council, which should have been published last year according to the Russian constitution, was read yesterday. It repeated all theses that have been heard on the official propaganda platforms of that country for a year. Why Russia attacked a neighboring country on February 24, 2022, we can listen to its excuses 24/7/twenty-four hours, seven days every week/ on all federal channels. Among the exciting moments of Putin’s address was the mention of the “gender problem,” perhaps to show how the West is “morally destroyed,” as well as the abusive laugh towards those Russian oligarchs, who kept their funds abroad and are now under attack.
But they were, of course, “condiments.” The main message was undoubtedly nuclear blackmail. Putin announced that he is freezing his country’s participation in the New START Treaty (Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms). It means that Russia and the United States are no longer obliged to provide each other with information about nuclear weapons twice a year. They can also cover up the movement of these weapons (inspection visits were stopped earlier). Putin also said Russia would do so if the United States conducted a nuclear weapons test.
From this “nuclear” rhetoric, we can conclude that Russia’s affairs on the Ukrainian front are not good. And it is not surprising. Russia cannot compete with the USA regarding conventional weapons, and it is clear (especially after Biden visits Kyiv) that the real war is with the United States. All that remains for Putin is threatening that he can use nuclear weapons to escape the situation. It is hard to say today whether it will be implemented or not and whether it will lead to a nuclear apocalypse.
But it is evident that the situation is going in the direction of further escalation, which is not beneficial to us, the Republic of Armenia, for three reasons: 1/ Russia is focused on the war against Ukraine; therefore, it will not take any serious steps in the South Caucasus, 2/ Russia, as the most precious to itself, will maintain its relations with Turkey, 3/ the closer the situation gets too chaotic, the more even the mention of any international norm will cause laughter.
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Once again, I want to express my hope that the Government of Armenia will not show its support to any side “personally” as well as through “pro-Western proxies.”
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
