Boryslav Bereza: This Will Be Really Alarming Signal For Putin

• 7.05.2024, 16:43

The head of the Kremlin has become the "new Lukashenka" for the West.

The so-called inauguration of Putin took place today. The European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called not to recognize the head of the Kremlin as a legitimate president, the delegation from the EU countries was also minimal.

Has Putin become a “lame duck”? Charter97.org spoke about this with Boryslav Bereza, Ukrainian politician, former member of the Verkhovna Rada:

— Putin is not concerned about how much he is a "lame duck" in the eyes of the West, he is more concerned about how much he looks like a successful dictator in the eyes of the global South. This is the main orientation for him now, it is important for him that the same partners from Iran, China, North Korea believe in him, because faith in his strength depends on how willing they are to help him. If they see that Putin is weak and helpless and cannot achieve the result, then not only political support, but also financial and military support will be reduced. Russia depends very much on this.

It should also be said that Europe, unfortunately, failed to fully boycott the inauguration. France was particularly surprised here, which loudly and menacingly stated that it was ready to send troops to Ukraine, but suddenly sent its ambassador to the inauguration. And that surprised me even more. For example, the same Belgium planned to send its representative, but, realizing the shame of the situation, refused such an idea.

There were also Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus, and here it is not surprising at all. Cyprus has become a rather serious financial haven for Russians, not only those Russians who I like moved there, but also those who found a financial haven in Cyprus. Hungary, Greece and Slovakia are quite open partners of Russia within the European Union. Hungary is also skeptical about Ukraine, so there are no surprises here either.

As for the representatives of Africa, most likely, they were simply bought to come and earn extra money. But the fact that there was neither the United States, nor Britain, nor the head of the European Union, says only one thing: in the eyes of the West, Putin has become the new Lukashenka – self-proclaimed.

Some of the votes for Putin were received in the occupied territories. If no one doubts that there are enough idiots and imbeciles who voted for him on the territory of Russia, then the votes collected in the occupied territory discredit the process itself and delegitimize the elections of the President of the Russian Federation. That is why the West does not recognize Putin as a real Russia's president.

Only time will show his real further status. If new ambassadors are sent to Russia, and they have to present credentials to Putin, then this will indicate that the West recognizes him as president. If this does not happen, then this will be a truly alarming signal for Putin, because one of his goals is to be recognized as an equal among equals, to be negotiated with as someone who participates in the formation of global geopolitics.

— There were very predictions that after the inauguration, Putin would go on mobilization, now we see an escalation — nuclear exercises announced by the Kremlin. What to expect from Russia in Putin's new term?

— Exercises on the use of tactical nuclear weapons, namely tactical, not strategic, are quite absurd. Now it is actually a political tool, not a manifestation of some kind of military power. Putin has traditionally begun to threaten (this is already the twentieth or twenty-first threat of the use of nuclear weapons in the last two years) for one reason only — he no longer has any other arguments to influence the West.

Putin does not have any trump cards in his sleeve and jokers in his deck, the whole set of arguments that he used to have is over. Therefore, nuclear weapons remained the last, but they no longer work as they did before. Here the effect works on the principle of a boy who shouted: "Wolf!"

Putin's daughters live in Europe, Lavrov's daughter lives in New York, the children of almost the entire Russian elite live in Europe or the U.S. Therefore, the collective West understands that Russia will not strike Europe or the U.S. with nuclear weapons. In this case, the threats remain threats.

The nuclear shield of the West is so strong that there will be no winner, but Russia will definitely be a loser. Therefore, the West does not want a nuclear war, they realize that losses are possible, and respect for human life causes them to restrain their emotions. But Russia, with its cult of death, indifference to human life, even to the lives of its citizens, just escalated the issue of nuclear war.

We must not forget about one more point. Putin is currently in a situation where he has already crossed all possible lines. The only thing he has left is threats to the West to consolidate Russian society. He has violated all norms and orders in the world, now he can only offer the Russians to "go to Washington".

Putin will never start a war with the United States, but he can offer it to his minions and his serfs, because, firstly, it amuses their pride, and secondly, it helps to consolidate the nuclear electorate against some virtual enemy. They are already at war with the virtual NATO in Ukraine, and now they are also fighting mentally with Washington. Nothing new.

— Over the weekend, the Financial Times wrote that Russia may be preparing sabotage and terrorist attacks in Europe, and Polish counterintelligence reported that Putin wants to conduct a "special operation" against one of the Baltic states. How will the West react?

— It is difficult to predict the reaction of the West since it is unclear what kind of "special operations" Putin will choose. For example, the murder of Litvinenko [former KGB officer, co-author of the book "Blowing Up Russia" Aleksandr Litvinenko in November 2006 died in London as a result of poisoning with polonium-210, — Ed.] led to the expulsion of diplomats. Other actions led to the breaking of financial contacts and the strengthening of sanctions.

It is worth remembering here that recently Russian spies were detained in Germany, these are citizens of the country who were actually recruited by Russian special services. They spied on bases, movements of equipment towards Ukraine, and also had to find weak spots in the system of protection of the German defence industry. This fact suggests that Russians are looking for opportunities to commit terrorist attacks at military enterprises: arson, sabotage, explosions and any processes that could disrupt the production of weapons and their transfer to Ukraine. That's to be expected.

Also, do not forget about the explosions at weapons warehouses in Europe and Ukraine, behind which are the Russian special services. Therefore, the formats of "special operations" can be completely different, but there are plenty of reactions possible now. If you are interested in the issue of Europe's military participation in the war, then it can only happen if there is a military attack on one of the NATO member states.