Putin’s spy master says issue of Ukraine support turning
Reuters October 11 Moscow The head of foreign intelligence for Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that the tensions over U.S. backing for Ukraine were growing corrosive and would get worse before the country’s presidential election the next year.
The United States and the European Union have committed more than $160 billion to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February of last year including tens of billions of dollars in armaments.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has frequently warned of the perils of allowing Russia to win the war President Joe Biden last week expressed concerns that U.S. aid to Ukraine could be hampered by legislative stalemate.
On the day of the impending presidential election, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) declared during a visit to the Azerbaijani capital Baku that “the Ukrainian topic is becoming more and more toxic.
The conflict in Washington, according to Naryshkin is between people who want to improve American life and those who have a strong animosity for Russians. It is becoming a bone of contention he said.
Since months diplomats and security analysts have claimed that Putin is banking that as Washington deals with other global crises and it becomes evident how difficult it will be to defeat hundreds of thousands of well-entrenched Russian forces in Ukraine, American commitment regarding Ukraine will fade.
Concerns have been expressed about the future of funding to Ukraine following the removal of House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy by Republican legislators. According to CNN this month the United States has encouraged Kyiv to take additional steps to combat corruption.
Naryshkin who has led Russia’s foreign intelligence agency since October 2016, claimed that McCarthy’s removal demonstrated the malignancy of the Ukraine issue in American politics.
He claimed that despite the West’s aggression against Russia over Ukraine, Moscow’s collaboration with Western spies in the fight against terrorism was still going strong.
Moscow characterizes its military actions in Ukraine as preventative measures against what it claims to be a hostile and belligerent West. This is ludicrous according to Kyiv and its Western sponsors who also claim that Russia is pursuing an unprovoked war of aggression and annexation.
