By Andrew Korybko
Leading Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov warned that the US is pursuing the aim of a “prolonged siege of ‘Putin’s Russia’” through “sanctions from hell”, “push[ing] Ukraine into a new war in the Donbass”, and “building up the armed forces on the borders with Russia and in the Black Sea”, all of which would arguably be counterproductive for US foreign policy since Russia’s resultant siege mentality might only accelerate the steps that the Eurasian Great Power could soon take to contain America in response.
Russian-American relations continue to dangerously deteriorate despite early February’s last-minute salvaging of the New START nuclear pact. RT reported that leading Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov warned that the US is pursuing the aim of a “prolonged siege of ‘Putin’s Russia’” through “sanctions from hell”, “push[ing] Ukraine into a new war in the Donbass”, and “building up the armed forces on the borders with Russia and in the Black Sea”. All of this would arguably be counterproductive for US foreign policy since Russia’s resultant siege mentality might only accelerate the steps that the Eurasian Great Power could soon take to contain America in response. I elaborated on this possible 20-point plan in my analysis last month which was written after Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that his country was seriously countenancing such a scenario if American pressure on Russia doesn’t soon end. I also predicted earlier this week that the US might be responsible for an informal Russian-Chinese-North Korean missile alliance that could created in the face of America’s reported decision to deploy intermediate-range missiles to Japan in the coming future.
History testifies time and again that Russia has stood the test of multiple sieges from some of civilization’s most powerful forces, which include the Mongols, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Swedish Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon, and Hitler among others. Although each struggle was different in their own way, they all shared the common outcome of the Russian state eventually succeeding in the face of supreme adversity despite the dire consequences that some of the associated conflicts caused for its people. The ongoing New Cold War is no different in this respect. If anything, it’s comparatively less intense than what Russia has confronted before, though the stakes are also a lot higher because of the feared nuclear factor that could be introduced through a war by miscalculation. The Russian people aren’t being slaughtered like they were many times throughout history, nor are they starving. To the contrary, they’re thriving after the country finally emerged from the recent World War C-induced recession and even became the world’s top wheat exporter.
As such, there’s no doubt that Russia will survive this current US-imposed siege against it, but the ultimate question is what lasting geopolitical consequences its inevitable victory will have. Like was argued earlier, the longer that the siege lasts, the more counterproductive it’ll be for the US’ foreign policy. Russia will be pushed by circumstances into comprehensively strengthening its strategic ties with China, an outcome that many American voices have described as nightmarish but which may become a fait accompli unless more pragmatic minds prevail and the US lifts its current siege as soon as possible. The current state of affairs is such that the American-Chinese dimension of the New Cold War might drag on indefinitely so long as Russia isn’t pressed to take ties with the People’s Republic to an even higher level than they presently are, but the latter scenario that might be triggered by the US’ intensified siege would decisively tilt the scales in Beijing’s favor and eventually lead to Washington’s loss. With this in mind, the US’ grand strategic interests are best served by lifting its anti-Russian siege and thus offsetting that scenario.