Ukraine Russia Online: Ukraine is only the first step for Russia, says the head of the German secret
The head of the German BND Federal Intelligence Service warns against the underestimation of Russian intentions towards the West and NATO.
Ukraine is only the first step on the way west for Moscow, said Bruno Kahl in Podcast Table.today.
« We are very sure, and we also have news evidence that Ukraine is just a step on the way west, » Kahl said. « There are people in Moscow who no longer believe that article five works. And they would like to test it, » he added.
The fifth article of the North Atlantic Treaty lays down a commitment to help in collective defense of the North Atlantic Alliance.
BND chief said the goal of Russian leadership is to expand the area of its influence to the West. « They want to eject back to the state of the late 1990s. They want to push America from Europe, and every means of all the means, » Kahl warned.
According to him, this must be defended from the beginning. The least bloody way to prevent war is deterioration, he added.
Russia in the current war against Ukraine demands the surrender of Ukraine, « and otherwise nothing », it is convinced by KAHL, which does not consider it too hopeful even the West negotiations with Russia.
« There is not even the smallest indication that Putin has changed something in his reasoning, in his aggressive approach to how to end this problem, » Kahl pointed out, and also pointed out the last negotiations between Ukraine and Russia representatives in Istanbul, where Moscow submitted maximalist requirements.
Russian officials handed over the Memorandum to the Ukrainian delegation with requirements for the end of the war. Among other things, they include international recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhanská, Zaporoza and Kersonian areas such as the Russian Federation, limiting the number of Ukrainian soldiers and weapons, neutrality of Ukraine or banning military activities of third states in its territory. (CTK)
