Last week, Putin, accompanied by a delegation of Russian officials, visited North Korea. It was his first visit to the DPRK in 24 years. Media reported that ahead of the visit, the Kremlin leader issued a decree stating that Moscow aimed to sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” with the country. After this, the Russian president also visited Vietnam. What do these visits mean? What could Russia have been negotiating with North Korea and Vietnam? And what consequences might these agreements have for Ukraine? Vadym Chernysh, Chairman of the Board of CENSS, shared his insights on this with the Pryamy TV channel. Below are some key points from his interview.
Vadym Chernysh: “Russia is not a state that has a security service; it is a security service that has been ruling the nation”
“The French statesman, Count Mirabeau, once said about Prussia that it was ‘not a state that has an army, but an army that has conquered a nation.’ A bit ironically, we could apply this statement to the situation in modern Russia, changing it as follows: Russia is not a state that has a security service; it is a security service that governs the nation.”
Детальніше
Undercover officers: how intelligence services have influenced Russia’s executive branch since the Soviet era to the present day
There is a presumption that the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation has significant influence over the executive power in Russia and uses methods and tools inherited from the Committee for State Security (KGB) of the Soviet Union.
Vadym Chernysh on the threat posed by Russia to Europe
20Vadym Chernysh, Chairman of the Board of CENSS, was a guest on the summary program with Mykola Veresny at Analizuy – a platform for thoughtful people. During the program, Vadym Chernysh answered questions about whether the threat from Russia to Europe still exists and if Russia could use military force against Western countries.
Economic sanctions: how to use the instrument effectively
Published by the IA “Interfax-Ukraine” on February 2, 2024.
The question of how the US and other democracies can help Ukraine rebuff Russian aggression is closely related to economic sanctions or, expressed correctly, restrictive measures.
A strategic view on utilizing economic sanctions against Russia and its national entities must be likened to a well-known military strategy approach. Accordingly, ends, ways, and means should be core elements of such strategy, which I would prefer to name “Economic Sanction Strategy.” Yet another analogy could be taken into consideration – deterrence, which can be one either by punishment or by denial. “Economic” deterrence by denial is unfeasible regarding possible intervention by militarily near-peer states; the military instrument of national power matters in such a case. Детальніше