Andrey Sushentsov, dean of the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO and a member of the Scientific-Expert Council under the Security Council of the Russian Federation, says the Ukraine conflict is entering its final phase. His interview, first published in Russian by TASS and translated and edited by RT, was conducted by Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Sushentsov argues that the United States is trying to step back from the crisis by passing the main burden to Western Europe while presenting itself as a moderator rather than the instigator. He says US strategic documents express an interest in ending the Ukraine crisis, and that Washington wanted to avoid a withdrawal accompanied by the collapse of the Ukrainian government. In his view, the United States acted treacherously toward both Ukraine and its European allies by handing them the burden without warning.
He says Western Europe lacks military resources, technological capacity and strategic experience comparable to those of the United States, and that the domestic debt of most major European states is approaching or exceeding 100% of GDP. He sees no prospect of a Ukrainian victory and no recovery of European spending through new deals with Russia. Referring to President Vladimir Putin, he describes European policy as a series of mistakes.
According to Sushentsov, Western European states do not have the strategic autonomy of Russia or the United States, lack a unified army, and need consensus among nearly 30 countries for major decisions. He says they fear being drawn directly into a military crisis with Russia, and that talk of sending troops into Ukraine is always limited to a point after a lasting peace and a ceasefire. He describes European support as a proxy conflict and says European governments are indifferent to Ukraine’s future borders and population. He puts the debt financing spent at Ukraine’s expense at nearly $500 billion and says it has not produced the needed strategic result.
Kuznetsov notes that Brussels has added Sushentsov to its sanctions list while some European leaders still call for dialogue with Russia. Sushentsov says the EU is using an anti-Russian stance as its main platform for unity. He says the issue matters less in Southern Europe, and that for Spain, despite an anti-Russian government, Palestine and the Middle East are more important, while the Baltic states and Northern Europe take a more alarmist and militaristic view. He says no European government wants to commit its armed forces in Ukraine in the way North Korea has done on Russia’s side. He also describes the Western European defence industry as fragmented, producing about 15 types of main battle tank with guns of different calibres.
He characterises European tactics as financial aid to Ukraine, seizure of Russia’s gold and foreign-exchange reserves, and withholding and disposal of revenues, and he calls that seizure a crime whose responsibility governments are trying to share. He says Russia would invite them to negotiations only if they sought peace alongside Russia rather than against Russia.
From the Russian perspective, Sushentsov says Moscow is waging a war to wear down its opponents, strike their rear areas and break what he calls their continental sword. He points to criticism in Germany of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Kiev, where Merz again promised money and resources while Germany’s national debt was rising. He says parties around Ukraine are becoming more detached, that hundreds of billions of euros have been spent on what he calls a strategically futile venture, and that nobody wants to take responsibility. He says the conflict may end in the coming months or the coming years, and that he is not describing a decade-long war, but a crisis now in the final phase of its resolution.