Putin ally: "West does not understand how dangerous risk of global conflict is"
Sergei Chemezov, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and CEO of Rostec, an arms supplier to the Russian military, has warned that continued US and Western support for Ukraine could escalate into a global conflict. He reported this in an interview with Reuters news agency.
Chemezov stressed that Russia remains confident in its military capabilities as it enters the third year of what the Kremlin calls a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. He reiterated that the conflict is essentially between the West and Russia. He accused the US of provoking the war by supplying Ukraine with weapons and enabling attacks on Russian territory.
Following a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Putin promised an ‘appropriate’ response, but has not yet specified what actions will be taken. Chemezov, a former KGB general, dismissed the impact of Western sanctions on the Russian economy as insignificant, claiming that Rostec and Russia have adapted, and even benefited from the departure of Western companies.
Chemezov argued that Russian defence companies will remain essential to the economy and noted that despite a decline in exports due to the war, there is strong international interest in Russian weapons. Chemezov's comments reflect a hardened position within Putin's inner circle and underscore the Kremlin's view that the conflict is an existential struggle against a waning West.
(HL/Source: Reuters, Japan Times/Illustration picture: DPA picture alliance / Russian Look | Kremlin Pool)
