Russia, West may head into new Cold War: Commentator
Press TV has conducted an interview with Fred Weir, a journalist and political commentator in Moscow, to discuss the latest developments regarding Russia and the tensions between Moscow and the West.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: First of all, give us your analysis of these recent comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Weir: Well, what we are seeing of course is a situation escalating. What Putin said in the second half of his remarks needs to be underlined that nobody is seriously thinking about war. This is what is happening in the absence of diplomacy, of useful, constructive talks between the two sides. They are gradually, step by step, militarizing it but the military steps are all symbolic and they are accompanied by this really inflated rhetoric.
The danger here and it is not immediate, it is not there, as I said it is perfectly clear that there is no immediate danger of war. The danger is that if these military steps are going to be locked in they are going to be followed by more heated rhetoric, new military steps; we are gradually returning to a Cold War situation, a frozen competition that could explode like at any time due to a miscalculation or some spike in the crisis; it could actually turn into war and this is the frightening thing down the road.
Press TV: And in the short-term, is there a solution to the crisis in Ukraine and to the opposing sides and their constant threats and what has come to be known as a political ping-pong that the two sides are playing with each other?
Weir: It does not look like it. We have the Minsk Accords that is the framework agreement supported by Russia and Western Europe and it is supposed to have steps in... if that will defuse this situation by the end of this year but they are not being followed. Nobody thinks they are going to be followed and therefore we have the constant danger of that conflict, which is a very real one, erupting on the ground there and dragging the two sides in.
Again I do not think the West is going to war over Ukraine, and Russia is clearly not going to invade Ukraine. It is just that that civil war remaining unresolved will keep flaring up and it will keep stoking this crisis between East and West, which as I said is gradually heading into a new Cold War. It is becoming mostly expressed through military means, symbolic shows of force. Nevertheless, they contain within them the germs of real war.
AHK/HJL
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