There is an ongoing discussion among leading Russian circles over how to best respond to the existential threats to Russia coming principally from London and the EU, but also from the United States. A small sampling of views expressed on recent editions of Dimitri Simes’s “The Great Game” program on Channel One Russia from June 21, paraphrased below, gives a sense of the intensity and urgency of the discussion. Simes hosted Dmitri Trenin (President of the Russian International Affairs Council, or RIAC); Konstantin Zatulin (long-time Duma member, first deputy chairman of the Committee for CIS and Russians Abroad); Yelena Chernenko (Kommersant journalist, regular on this program); and others.
Zatulin: The situation is serious. We are seeing an escalation, rather than the transition to diplomacy promised at Anchorage in August 2025. The goal is to destabilize Russia. We are obliged to respond.
Trenin: It is time to lift the self-imposed taboo on certain targets within Ukraine. And in Europe, to go from words to deeds. There is the list of factories [producing drones for Ukraine—ed.]. The strikes against our energy infrastructure require a mirror response, in the European countries. If, for example, a terminal in Europe for receiving LNG were to blow up, that would make them think.
Chernenko: If we do hit a target in Poland or elsewhere, we can’t be certain that NATO’s reaction will be to come to their senses. The reaction may not be what Moscow expects.
