The Kremlin Rulers Are Not the Enemies of America, but Its Slaves

Making public speech on radio "Echo of Moscow" the founder of Institute of National Strategy, political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky gave the profound analysis of foreign policy of the Kremlin. On the estimation of the political scientist, "today's Russian Federation has no geopolitic doctrine, it is ruled by groups of businessmen who pursue their commercial interests".

"It's necessary, - Belkovsky considers, - to separate real confrontation from its illusion - from its propaganda provision. Actually, as they are not simple businessmen, but they are businessmen with criminal psychology who rule the territory entrusted to their care as criminal grouping has got used to operate - solntsevskaya by Solntsev, another by some other criminal, - that actually they don't enter any confrontation - political, not rhetorical, I emphasize, political - with stronger groupings, in their understanding. We do not see any confrontation, except for rhetorical one with the USA".

Having touched upon the theme of threat of new cold war, Stanislav Belkovsky said: "There is no confrontation with the USA - in the field of policy. Not in the field of telling political jokes and different sort of not very successful metaphors but in the field of carrying out of a consecutive political rate there is no confrontation.

For those 7 years that Putin is at authority, Russia lost all its geopolitic grounds almost without fight. It lost them because present ruling elite doesn't care them at all - it - the ruling elite - didn't struggle for them. 7 years ago Russia because of postSoviet inertness was regional empire. Actaully the disposer of postSoviet space in the majority of postSoviet capitals. Moscow was treated as senior brother and senior partner. It's different now.  

For 7 years Russia passed from the first geopolitic league where there are regional powers, to the second - where there are simply provincial states, which influence does not spread over own borders. Naturally, for many states this situation is historically comfortable, but it's not so for Russia, because it has not got used to it. But the ruling Russian class hasn't understood and realized it yet.

Besides this ruling class considers that money could solve everything. It is necessary to tell that some western leaders let them become stronger in this confidence - for example, Gerhard Shreder who became the lobbyist of "Gazprom" having totally spat upon own reputation. I was at his lecture several months ago in Berlin - things he was saying, in general, not strongly differ from rhetoric of the First channel on the Russian TV.

Or Silvio Berlusconi who comes to Putin to see ultimate fighting and declares there that Putin had no opponents, meanwhile 15 thousand guardsmen came. And these people consider that if someone is against them - it means that he was given too little money.

As soon as everything passes into monetary plane, then it was the base for ruin of postSoviet space - all these gas wars with the Ukraine, oil-and-gas war with Belarus, constant attempts to fasten a match to our last allies on the postSoviet space - unconfessed states - only with them Russia approved oneself at its best - because it can struggle only with them, they are little and weak.

It is possible to demand some concessions from Transdniestria, as well as from Abkhazia, from South Ossetia - it's not possible to demand something from the USA, is it? That is, it is possible to tell to own people how we do not love America thus creating illusion that we have enough power to struggle with it. But actually we can't and we don't: all geopolitic questions which are important to America were solved to its advantage".

Having mentioned the theme of visit of Vladimir Putin to Kazakhstan and Turkmenia, Belkovsky said: "That happened in Astana, in Ashkhabad and in the city of Turkmenbashi, former Krasnovodsk, testifies, more likely, about two problems which are being solved by Noursultan Nazarbaev, but not Vladimir Putin: on the one hand, Nazarbaev wishes to become, finally to approve Kazakhstan in the role of regional power - to become subregional, that is to become the center of the Central Asia. For this purpose he needs to show that he controls Putin and possesses some preferences from the Kremlin which other states of Central Asia don't have.

On the other hand, Nazarbaev needs a certain set of trumps which he could use in a trade with the West in occasion of transit of authority which should take place in Kazakhstan in the nearest years. There are weighty reasons to believe that the present president of Kazakhstan will not stay for the next term, that he needs somehow to legimate the he- or she-successor. And in this situation Putin actually carried out a role of advertising agent of Nazarbaev.

Turkmenia didn't contract liabilities and the alternative route also will be constructed - here it's important to remember that nobody knows about real stocks of gas in Turkmenia - data of the international audit haven't been published yet and suspicions grow that Turkmenia has much more obligations on deliveries of gas than the amount of gas it has".

Having passed to the Russian-Estonian relations, Stanislav Belkovsky noted: "If to analyse those conflicts in which Russia participates we shall find out that the Kremlin did nothing against Estonia, despite of terrible enmity. The hysterics was on a level of the movement of "nashi" and, actually, senseless and ruthless actions near the Estonian embassy which assault reputation of Russia and raised the question about adequacy of some of the supreme Kremlin officials. But Putin said nothing in relation to Estonia and no real levers of influence on this situation aiming to save the monument to the Soviet Soldier-Liberator were undertaken.

So in general as the big, multi-billion business on transit of energy carriers and metals through Estonia exists, in the same way it proceeds to function. Elite cottage settlements on the Estonian islands at the Baltic coast belonging to the Russian high-ranking citizens continue to be constructed as they used to be. It has been already declared that train Saint-Petersburg-Tallinn will start functioning again - it was found out that for the first time it was launched in March this year. That is already at the height of the conflict - there was no such train till March at all. It means that once again geopolitic, geocultural interests of Russia, actually, influence is sacrificed business-interests. If to speak not only about destructive behaviour of Russia, but also about destructive behaviour of some other countries - for example, the same Estonia in relation to the Soviet soldier-liberator, I would like to explain such behaviour by comprehension of weakening of Russia, by comprehension of the fact that Russia is not capable to protect its not commercial but political interests on some principal directions".   

Having mentioned again a theme of aggravation of the Russian-American relations, the political scientist declared: "I think that today there is no and can not be geopolitic competition between the USA and Russia simply because the USA and Russia are in different leagues. The USA is - a global power and even if it wishes to establish the direct control over various territories, it has huge influence on different parts of the world by means of the most different mechanisms, including, means of so-called "soft-power".

Russia recently was regional power, it ceased to be it recently and the most it should hope is its own regional project formulated one more time, coordinated somehow with the American global project - if it does not wish to coordinate it with other global project, for example, with Chinese one. But as to the regional project, then it has to spend money on allies. Because achievements in policy - are always charges in economy". In conclusion Stanislav Belkovsky said: "In my opinion, Russia does nothing bad to today's America. The Russian ruling elite is completely dependent on America - and from the point of view of their assets in the American banks and from the point of view of the psychological dependence on America - from a way of life which by means of "soft-power" America defines on a significant part of globe and in this sense any American provincial judge is today much more dangerous for large Russian bonze than any tectonic shifts of geopolitic layers. Because today this judge can arrest these very assets for the sake of which present Russian rulers have been working so many years - I don't consider these very rulers enemies of America - precisely in the political sense they are slaves of America. Not enemies".