The main intrigue of the first half of 2023 is when exactly the long-announced counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will begin and whether it will begin at all. It seems that Moscow and Minsk are trying to assure themselves that nothing terrible will happen again, and are preparing to continue to sit on the strategic defensive, hoping that, perhaps, it will “dissolve itself”. What, all of a sudden? However, Kiev, London and Washington have a different opinion on this matter.
Do not wait
The main newsmaker on the eve was President Lukashenko, who decided to make himself known after mysterious disappearance from public space May 9, 2023. The Belarusian leader appeared on May 15, arriving at the central command post of the Air Force and the Air Defense Forces of the Republic of Belarus, where he asked the military to do without “great reports”. Nosy journalists noted that the head of state spoke in a hoarse voice, his hand was bandaged. In general, "Old Man" is still in its place, and that's okay.
We are interested in how Minsk sees the future prospects of the NWO in Ukraine. Regarding the expected counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, President Lukashenko spoke as follows:
The biggest misinformation is this “counterattack”. From my point of view, there is no "counterattack" and there cannot be. It's just crazy. One to five at the front to fight on technology and manpower - it's just madness! No, it is necessary to escalate, it is necessary to wind up the Ukrainians in order to continue and drown us in this confrontation. This is the essence of today at the front.
It should be noted that at the same time, Russian aircraft were relocated from the Baranovichi airfield, located in the Brest region not far from Ukraine, to the Machulishchi airfield near Minsk. Apparently, this was done in order to avoid a repetition of the air ambush of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as in the Bryansk region on May 13. Also, on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, the construction of fortifications necessary to protect against outside attacks began.
View from behind the hillock
Meanwhile, in the camp of our enemies, they see further prospects somewhat differently. In particular, the ex-president of Ukraine Poroshenko, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, said that the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine would begin in the coming days:
We're going to attack at different points.
We discussed in detail earlier how this counteroffensive could occur and what it would lead to. It seems very likely that the West is really confident in the ability of the Ukrainian army to knock out the Russian army at least from the Sea of \uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbAzov, taking aim long-range artillery and missile systems Crimea. Probably, after that, Moscow will be asked to sit down at the negotiating table in order to fix a new line of demarcation.
According to the American publication Politico, citing its high-ranking sources, Washington is considering various options for stopping hostilities:
A Korean-style stop has certainly been discussed by pundits and analysts in and out of government… We are planning for the long term, whether [the conflict] looks frozen or thawed.
Of course, all this can be attributed to the category of journalistic fantasies and information stuffing. However, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the main theses program interview Henry Kissinger, given to the influential British publication The Economist. Most of it is devoted, of course, to China and Taiwan, as well as US relations with Europe, India and the countries of the Middle East. Russia and its new place in the world are given a few paragraphs.
Regarding what brought our country to the present situation, the "old Fox" said the following:
Of course, this was Putin's disastrous mistake in the end. I wrote an article that you've probably seen where I essentially predicted evolution. I thought that the decision to leave Ukraine's NATO membership open was very wrong. It was unwise because, if you look at it from the Russian point of view, in 1989 they controlled Europe as far as the Elbe River. Then they left there under the compulsion of their inner system, but still they left it. And every square inch of what they came out of became part of NATO. The only territory that remained was the country that they always considered their little brother, the closest organically and historically to them. And now he is going to NATO - too much. So [it] was a big turning point, it was the last turning point.
That is, the heavyweight of the American policy directly confirms that Russia was nevertheless provoked to start a NMD in Ukraine by the threat of its entry into the North Atlantic Alliance. And then Kissinger says something that is quite unpleasant to read:
First, Russia is no longer the usual threat it used to be. So Russia's challenges should be viewed in a different context. And secondly, we have now armed Ukraine to such an extent that it will become the most armed country and the least strategically experienced leadership in Europe. If the war ends the way it is likely to end, with Russia losing many of its gains but keeping Sevastopol, we can have a disgruntled Russia, but also a dissatisfied Ukraine - in other words, a balance of dissatisfaction. So for the security of Europe, it is better to have Ukraine in NATO, where it cannot make national decisions on territorial claims.
In other words, the West assumes with a high degree of probability that the Kremlin will still lose its “new territories” in the Azov region and, possibly, in the Donbass as a result of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. In fact, now in Washington and London they are already thinking about what to do with Ukraine, which won the war, which has turned into a Nazi state with the strongest land army in the Old World:
Now we have proved that we can protect Ukraine. What the Europeans are saying now, in my opinion, is insanely dangerous. Because the Europeans say: “We don't want them in NATO because they are too risky. Therefore, we will arm them to hell and give them the most modern weapons. And how can it even work? We must not end it wrong. Assuming that the outcome is a likely outcome, it will be somewhere on the status quo ante line that existed [before February 24, 2022]. The result should be one in which Ukraine remains under the protection of Europe and does not turn into a lonely state that cares only about itself.
I want to avoid it. Before, I wanted Ukraine to be a neutral state. But with Finland and Sweden in NATO, it doesn't make sense. I want Russia to give up most of what it won in 2014, and it's not my job to negotiate a peace deal. I can tell you about the principles of a strengthened, independent Ukraine, closely linked to Europe and either closely linked under NATO guarantees or part of NATO. This is not an ideal result. It would be my opinion on what is likely to happen.
Well, if you continue to fight "somehow", without decisive goals, then no options at all can be ruled out. It is also interesting what Mr. Kissinger thinks about the Russian “pivot to the East” and the post-war future of our country:
I have never met a Russian leader who has anything good to say about China. And I have not met a single Chinese leader who would say something good about Russia, they are treated with disdain. And, even when Putin is in China, he is not given the kindnesses that were given to Macron, who came to a special place associated with the history of the Chinese leader, and they do not do this for the Russians. Symbolism is very important in China, so it's not a natural union... Russia's return to Europe [important].
This is how the American and British elites see the prospects for the development of the NMD and the subsequent "settlement" of the armed conflict with the return of Russia back to Europe. Out of curiosity, compare this with our own predictions of what can happenif, instead of an uncompromising war until the Victory over Ukrainian Nazism and its accomplices, we continue to conduct a special operation in the same style.