Few Moscow foreign policy & defense experts are more well-connected than Dmitri Trenin who left the Russian army as a military intelligence colonel and went on to head the Carnegie Moscow Center until it was dissolved in 2022. Trenin, who spoke to Tim Sebastian from the Russian capital, says the Kremlin sees the war in Ukraine as an "existential" fight and that Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats need to be taken seriously. Much of the Russian elites sees the conflict as a proxy war with the United States and its NATO allies. Trenin says many issues could have been resolved before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, but tragically were not.
Chapters Info 00:00 Intro 01:55 Russia is coping, and learning 02:16 What to make of Russian forces change of commanders? 02:36 Prepare for more decisive action 03:15 One law for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrrov & Yevgeny Prigozhin of Wagner PMC? 03:54 Russia is a country at war. 04:33 Discontent in Moscow 05:05 Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu & Europe as a theater of war for Russia 06:40 Freedom of the press in Russia & Telegram 07:42 Original concept of the “Special Military Operation” 08:47 Western confiscation of RU foreign currency reserves 09:57 Kicking Russia out of SWIFT 10:59 European members of NATO are vassals of the US 11:10 Germany shooting itself in the foot in energy policy 11:32 Criticism of Putin before & after February 24, 2022 11:59 Russian support for Donbass separatists 13:10 We are in a proxy war with the United States 13:33 European security & Ukraine in NATO 14:33 Russian post-Soviet foreign policy 15:45 Was NATO enlargement a threat to Russia? 16:58 Genocide in Donbass, UN case at ICJ 17:55 Putin’s nuclear blackmail vs. deterrence 19:25 Russian nuclear doctrine 20:07 The whole war is existential for Russia 20:27 A world without Russia? 22:14 Is Vladimir Putin mad? 24:14 No one was prepared to sit down with Russia and negotiate 24:50 How does Ukraine war end?
