Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), gave a lengthy interview to the Russian magazine Razvedchik. In the interview, Naryshkin indicated that Russia was in the process of achieving its goals with the special military operation in Ukraine, with the forces of Ukraine in a state of collapse. “The situation at the front is not in Kyiv’s favor. The strategic initiative in all areas belongs to us; we are close to achieving our goals, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces are on the verge of collapse,” he said.
Nevertheless, he went on, the West is ready to go to great lengths to maintain its dominance and may try to provoke a global conflict with its epicenter in Eurasia. “One of the possible scenarios of the development of events in the medium term is a potential Western attempt to provoke a global armed conflict with an epicenter in Eurasia. You know, this is a proven way for world capital to get out of a crisis,” he said.
At the same time, he noted that “New, no less sustainable groups of countries have emerged in the world. Other, more responsible players, who, if united, are capable of countering Anglo-Saxon influence and solving all problems on their own without escalating the global situation into World War III,” he added. He also pointed to the failure of the Anglo-Americans in their destabilization efforts among the former Soviet countries, noting particularly the situation in Georgia, where the West was unable to pull that country away from Russia. “The West had high hopes for mass protests,” he said. “First of all, after the sanctions were imposed. But the Russian economy survived and began to develop, new trade routes were created. And people, instead of being outraged by the actions of the authorities, supported them.”
