Latest / International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better / Victory Day, Putin’s Red Lines, Armenia, Hormuz, and Karaganov’s New World War Warning

Transcript

Victory Day, Putin’s Red Lines, Armenia, Hormuz, and Karaganov’s New World War Warning · International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better

0:00
Hello, good morning. Welcome. I am
0:03
Samuel Trap. This is International
0:05
Flavor. You are listening to DAM Radio.
0:09
I am pre-recording this show the evening
0:12
of the 10th of May because I shall be
0:15
traveling in the morning. Lots of
0:17
interesting news to go over. Uh well, I
0:20
only say that so you don't uh phone in
0:23
uh on today's program. A lot of stuff
0:26
went on. a lot of interesting uh events
0:29
in the world. I spent uh some time
0:33
watching uh Soliv
0:37
which uh you know I was really worried
0:39
about the Mayday
0:42
uh well worried I suppose that's not the
0:44
right word to say. I was uh wondering,
0:48
you know, watching with interest um
0:51
whether or not
0:54
the Mayday I'm sorry, it's not Mayday.
0:56
Mayday is the first of May. Uh victory
0:59
day parades in uh
1:03
Moscow would be uh
1:07
attacked by the Ukrainians. They were
1:10
not. And uh that's actually a positive
1:15
um set of events that that didn't
1:17
happen. Uh however, they did
1:23
u
1:25
attack in other locations. There were
1:28
protests around u America
1:32
also
1:34
um over Israel and tax dollars. So, I
1:37
don't know if you've seen any of that
1:39
that I wanted to get to. Uh there was a
1:42
condition that Putin put for speaking
1:45
with Silinski.
1:47
Uh
1:50
I watched a uh so I watched Soliv on uh
1:54
Sunday night, the Sunday show, and it
1:57
came out, it comes out early in the
1:59
afternoon actually, and so I had a
2:02
chance to watch it earlier in the day.
2:05
And Soliv did a four victory day. He did
2:10
a 2 three-day
2:13
uh tour around the front and he toured
2:17
with a
2:20
I forget the nomenclature of the brigade
2:23
that he was traveling with, but he
2:24
traveled with a brigade that um
2:29
he he was with them for gez at least
2:31
overnight. He spent a lot of time with
2:33
them and lots of uh show and they were
2:37
talking about some drone activity, air
2:41
defense. The commander spent a lot of
2:44
time with them. They went out and saw
2:46
the launch of a few drones. They saw the
2:49
knocking down of some um Ukrainian
2:52
drones because they have anti- drone
2:55
forces as well.
2:57
They had a couple of um
3:01
pretty interesting interviews that went
3:03
on. And if these things are really that
3:05
uh accurate, it was uh I tell you what,
3:10
the the Russians are getting
3:14
they're getting a lot of experience from
3:16
this, a lot of uh mileage out of it as
3:19
well. And they are learning some things.
3:23
They were talking about how
3:27
this particular unit had discovered how
3:31
to set up their drones with
3:37
uh night vision because shooting other
3:41
drones at night is uh quite difficult,
3:44
you know, if if the drones are going out
3:46
at night. So, and drones can't normally
3:50
see other drones, but apparently one of
3:53
the guys in their unit discovered some
3:56
kind of a frequency that shows how to
3:59
spot a certain temperature that is only
4:03
available on the drone itself.
4:07
And uh they can see these other drones
4:11
and they can pinpoint them in the air
4:13
and then they send them out and they
4:15
shoot them down.
4:17
they've been taking them down for a
4:19
little while with these um uh
4:24
anti- drone forces. And so it it was a
4:27
pretty interesting
4:30
uh report actually and it it only lasted
4:34
about, you know, 30 minutes, 45 maybe
4:37
that uh he went through. But, uh, there
4:40
was quite a lot of content in there and
4:42
he drove around with them and, uh,
4:44
showed quite a bit of, uh,
4:47
uh, quite a bit of content
4:50
on the anti- drone, uh, forces. And
4:55
uh then the rest of the show he was
4:59
arguing with uh he got into a pretty
5:02
heated argument with somebody over uh
5:06
Armenia and what is going on in Armenia.
5:09
And uh if you remember last week I
5:11
shared a story with you about the
5:12
Armenian
5:14
u president, prime minister, whoever he
5:16
was, uh Pashinan, I can't remember, I
5:20
think is his name, but he met with u
5:22
Putin a little while ago and uh
5:27
maybe a week a week ago and Putin was
5:30
saying, you know, that uh there are some
5:33
things that uh are pretty positive, but
5:36
they're still trying to get into
5:39
uh European Union as well. And there was
5:44
some boy, there was some heated argument
5:47
over that and what
5:49
what Armenia uh needs to be doing. I
5:53
want to study up on it a little bit
5:55
more, but that was and and give you some
5:57
more uh events from there because that
5:59
was heated. And the basics were that
6:03
they aren't being truthful with the
6:05
electorate in Armenia. And Soliv's point
6:08
was, well, they don't get to elect
6:10
anyway, just like this is the exact way
6:12
that Malddova was converted over to u
6:17
the EU. And they're doing the same all
6:20
over the southern border of Russia as
6:23
well. Kazakhstan, Usbekiststan,
6:27
Armenia,
6:28
um Azerbaijan, all of those uh former
6:32
Soviet republics that they're twisting,
6:35
doing the exact same thing they did in
6:37
Malddova that they've done in uh uh
6:40
places like uh uh Serbia, Bulgaria, all
6:44
of those places to turn them completely
6:47
uh anti-Russia just like the rest of
6:49
Europe. and uh he made no bones about it
6:52
that we're fighting where, you know,
6:54
they they don't even know what Victory
6:56
Day is in America. You know, they don't
6:59
have any understanding of what it is.
7:02
And uh partially that's true. I mean,
7:05
what do we celebrate um around World War
7:09
II? Uh whether or not it uh I mean, we
7:14
really don't. And so the
7:19
Russians though, it's a big deal to
7:21
them. And so
7:25
uh there's Russia, let's see, there were
7:27
some violated the ceasefire. There's
7:31
some news that says the ceasefire was
7:35
violated a total of 16,000
7:40
times.
7:41
So, the Victory Day truce announced by
7:45
Russia to mark the 81st anniversary of
7:48
the end of World War II. Man, it just
7:50
seems like yesterday that we were
7:52
talking about the 80th anniversary and
7:55
everybody getting
7:58
invited and uh uh there was some talk
8:01
about perhaps an American going over
8:03
there and um this year Fitzo went but
8:07
that was it, you know. uh nobody else
8:12
and he's been ostracized. Meritz says
8:15
he's going to have some words for him.
8:17
But anyway, the Victory Day truce of the
8:19
81st anniversary
8:22
um the truce is was expiring on Sunday,
8:27
but Moscow agreed to extend it for two
8:30
more days. In a statement on Sunday, the
8:33
defense ministry said the Ukrainian
8:35
forces carried out drone and artillery
8:37
strikes in Crimea, the Belgared region,
8:41
Kursk, Kuga, Rostov region, Crossnadar.
8:45
In Belgra Belgar alone, five civilians
8:49
including a teenager were injured in
8:51
Ukrainian drone attacks according to
8:54
regional governor Via Slavkov.
8:58
and Ukrainian troops carried out 676
9:02
strikes against Russian positions using
9:04
artillery, multiple launch rocket
9:08
systems, mortars, and tanks.
9:11
Kiev launched 6,331
9:14
drones and eight assaults on Russian
9:18
positions.
9:19
In total, the Russian Ministry of
9:22
Defense recorded 16,071
9:26
ceasefire violations by Kiev since
9:29
Friday. And under these circumstances,
9:32
Russian troops responded symmetrically
9:35
by targeting firing positions, drone
9:38
launch sites, and command centers.
9:40
Russian forces strictly observed the
9:43
ceasefire regime and stayed at the
9:46
previously occupied lines and positions.
9:48
And uh throughout the conflict, Moscow
9:51
declared temporary truses during major
9:54
religious and national holidays. Last
9:56
month, Russia talked about and announced
9:59
an Easter ceasefire, which the defense
10:02
ministry said was violated by the
10:04
Ukrainian forces more than 6,500 times
10:08
in 32 hours. and Ukrainian leader um the
10:12
Green Goblin Vladimir Zalinski issued
10:15
several threats ahead of Victory Day,
10:18
prompting Moscow to warn its foreign
10:20
partners about possible consequences.
10:23
The Russian Defense Ministry warned that
10:26
retaliatory strikes on central Kiev
10:29
would be carried out if attempts were
10:31
made to disrupt victory day in Moscow
10:34
and urge residents and diplomats to
10:37
leave the Ukraine capital in advance of
10:39
that. Uh, President Putin said the
10:42
warning reached Washington and uh did
10:45
contribute to Trump's extended ceasefire
10:48
initiative, but he also said that the
10:52
globalist western elites are still
10:54
waging war against Russia using Ukraine
10:57
as proxies and the conflict is heading
11:00
toward its end. Um, I was going to read
11:03
for you when I was trying to find the
11:05
version where I wouldn't have to
11:07
translate it myself for uh
11:12
um
11:14
Russ uh Putin's victory day speech and I
11:18
want to share that with you and I will
11:20
this week but uh I didn't u have it
11:23
prepared for for today and you know the
11:28
talk of Armenia
11:30
um you know the
11:35
I I don't I tell you what there's so
11:38
much going on and I apologize for
11:40
bouncing around a little bit but um um
11:44
Moscow expects explanations from Yervan
11:48
over Zalinsk's statements and uh the
11:51
Ukrainian leader remarks uh during his
11:54
visit to Armenia
11:57
were another veiled threat and So,
12:00
Russia expected the Armenian
12:03
um you know leadership to explain the
12:06
lack of a reaction to the anti-Russia
12:09
statements made by Vladimir Zalinski
12:11
during his recent visit to Yervan,
12:14
said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Pescov. Um
12:18
providing a venue for such rhetoric goes
12:21
against the spirit of partnership
12:23
between the two nations. So, Zilinski
12:26
was in Yeravan this week for a two-day
12:29
summit on the European political
12:32
community, an EUled intergovernmental
12:34
group launched in 2022.
12:38
He asked for more military and financial
12:41
assistance from the West and claimed
12:43
that Moscow was scared that Ukrainian
12:46
drones may buzz Red Square ahead of
12:49
Victory Day celebrations. The Russian
12:51
Defense Ministry warned that if Ukraine
12:54
attempted to disrupt festivities, a
12:56
major retaliatory strike would follow.
13:00
But Pescov said, "We would surely expect
13:03
some explanations from Armenia." And he
13:06
pointed to a lack of any attempt to
13:09
balance Zalinsk's uh statements on the
13:12
part of Prime Minister uh Nicole Pesin,
13:16
who was hosting the summit. Moscow does
13:19
not understand why anti-Russian
13:21
statements are coming from Armenia.
13:24
And on Thursday, the Russian foreign
13:26
ministry uh summoned the Armenian
13:29
ambassador ambassador, sorry, in Moscow
13:32
to protest opening the floor for
13:34
Zilinsk's terrorist threats. Pescov
13:37
maintained that Yervan has a sovereign
13:40
right to define its foreign policy and
13:42
host any summits it wants but added that
13:45
Moscow only wants it not to take an
13:48
anti-Russia position
13:50
and u Pashan came to power in 2018 and
13:55
during his time in office Armenia lost a
13:58
proxy war with Azerbaijan over the
14:01
latter's right to Nagorno Karabach
14:04
Pashanyan attempted to fault Moscow for
14:07
not providing military assistance to uh
14:11
to uh Armenia at that time. Um so
14:20
um
14:22
meanwhile the Ukrainian military needs
14:25
to pull back from the Donbass for peace
14:27
to move forward. This is what Yuri
14:31
Ushukov has said. Uh he said that talks
14:34
between Moscow and Kiev remain stalled
14:37
until then. and he told Pavle Zadubin,
14:39
who's a journalist, uh said that the
14:43
Ukrainian government already knows this
14:45
and that they've had several rounds of
14:48
talks and uh but they've kind of fallen
14:50
flat
14:52
and according to Ushakov, any new
14:54
meetings won't change unless Ukrainian
14:57
troops are withdrawn. And until Ukraine
15:00
makes the step, uh, one can hold more
15:04
rounds, dozens of rounds of talks, but
15:06
will remain in the same spot. Everybody
15:09
knows in Ukraine that it must be done
15:11
and they will do it sooner or later,
15:14
said the presidential aid, but the US is
15:17
now more preoccupied with the Middle
15:19
East and they are not abandoning the
15:22
Ukraine issue.
15:25
um and that they're still still chatting
15:28
on this subject allegedly.
15:33
So, I read a a good number of opinion
15:36
pieces um as well and
15:41
uh there was one
15:44
um
15:46
that I thought was
15:50
um
15:52
entertaining, I suppose. Well, there
15:55
were a couple that were pretty
15:56
entertaining. When the one was one was
15:59
called um when the world's most powerful
16:04
country has no war plan. That was
16:08
interesting. And then uh uh
16:14
another one was Alexander Dugan and he's
16:16
the one who's whose daughter was killed
16:18
in Ukraine. And uh
16:22
uh
16:24
he's talking about u whites. He's
16:27
attacking whites. But I I wanted to re
16:30
to share one probably all of it um on
16:33
Nigeria and then another one on victory
16:36
day um with with with uh other attacks
16:41
in other parts of Europe when when uh
16:44
other parts and then Trump is angry with
16:46
Germany. So there there's a few of them
16:49
that I thought about sharing but I
16:51
thought the most appropriate
16:54
uh would be to talk about Nigeria
17:00
because the for Nigeria which is
17:03
Africa's largest oil producer and one of
17:07
the most densely populated nations the
17:11
closure of the Hormuz Strait in 2026
17:15
has exposed oed um
17:20
a problem that politicians and
17:22
technocrats has long preferred to
17:25
ignore. The straight of Hormuz is one of
17:27
the most consequential waterways on
17:30
Earth and it's only 21 km wide at its
17:33
narrowest point that it channels 20% of
17:36
the world's oil trade.
17:40
So
17:42
when the artery
17:45
is restricted, you know, Brent crude
17:48
prices surged past 114 a barrel. Um I
17:51
was looking at the gas pump today. $419
17:57
$419
17:59
at the at the lake, you know, uh Lake
18:02
Ozark, Osage Beach area. $4.19.
18:06
That's crazy.
18:08
So, we're we're headed back. You know,
18:11
every nobody's even bitching about $4
18:14
anymore.
18:15
So, beyond crude oil, the closure
18:18
disrupts
18:20
the flow of petrochemicals, fertilizers,
18:23
commodities of other kinds which are
18:25
important in the Gulf region and among
18:27
the world. Uh the disruption deepens
18:31
global economic strains strain across
18:33
trade prices finance threatens food
18:36
security of important nations from
18:39
subsaharan Africa to Southeast Asia and
18:42
Nigeria um is one of those countries. So
18:49
there's a you know why can't and Nigeria
18:52
can't refine its own oil and one of the
18:55
problems is uh the energy story of
18:58
Nigeria itself. So the nation sits at
19:02
top some of the world's richest
19:04
hydrocarbon deposits and it's for
19:07
decades has been unable to refine
19:10
sufficient fuel for its own populations
19:13
and Niger Nigerians pay the price
19:16
through
19:18
fuel scarcity
19:20
suffocating cues at filling stations and
19:24
uh you know the economy is perpetually
19:27
held hostage by the price of imported
19:29
petroleum.
19:30
And the Hormuz crisis strips away
19:32
whatever you know normaly accumulates.
19:36
And then the commissioning of the of the
19:38
Dango refinery in 2024 was supposed to
19:41
be optimistic and with an initial
19:44
capacity of 650,000 barrels a day and an
19:48
ambition to be 1.4 million barrels a
19:51
day. It was positioned as a an answer to
19:55
Nigeria's chronic refining deficit and
19:58
its industrial sovereignty. Yet now it's
20:01
undermined by a fundamental
20:03
contradiction. Nigeria's oil extracted
20:06
from its own land is systematically
20:09
routed away from its own shores.
20:11
International oil companies operating in
20:13
the country demonstrate a persistence
20:17
um and a preference for exporting crude
20:20
to global spot markets rather than
20:22
supply domestic refineries and the
20:24
result is a structural crisis. The
20:28
refinery, the Dango refinery has been
20:30
compelled to import crude from the US
20:33
and Africa. A situation
20:36
you can't quite believe. It's just a
20:39
complete policy failure. So the Nigerian
20:42
National Petroleum Company uh relies on
20:46
partial payment in NRA and dollars to
20:50
supply the refinery has further
20:52
undermined pricing stability. Uh Aliko
20:56
Dangote the president of the Dangote
20:58
group has publicly you know you know
21:01
complained about the unwillingness
21:03
uh to sell crude directly to the
21:06
refinery. describing the situation as a
21:09
structure structural impediment to
21:12
domestic energy. So when Hormuz's crisis
21:14
pushed global crudes to crude prices to
21:18
you know $114 a barrel, it's uh hits
21:23
them twice. Number one, they got to pay
21:25
more to get it back from Europe or from
21:27
other places. I mean, I'm sorry, US or
21:30
other places. And then they they can't
21:32
get it through the horses to sell it
21:34
anyway. So the volatility in the first
21:37
quarter is uh for normal Nigerians just
21:40
means it's unbel they can't afford
21:42
anything and uh so although Dangote
21:46
reduced pump prices uh per liter as
21:50
crude prices came down the episode shows
21:54
that the exposure of Nigerian consumers
21:56
to full volatility of international
21:58
markets and for a population where the
22:00
majority of livelihoods depend on uh you
22:03
know small trade and infor formal
22:05
transportation. A 50% spike in fuel
22:07
within weeks is a catastrophe. So, uh,
22:11
and the crude is pledged abroad. So,
22:15
they can't
22:17
they can't catch a break is the the
22:19
point of this story. And so what can be
22:22
done but you know it's there's some some
22:25
talk about how to uh how to uh correct
22:29
it but one of the the largest is of
22:33
course opening the straits of Hormuz is
22:35
the short-term answer. long term they
22:37
have to begin to refine some of their
22:40
own oil and quit sending it all abroad
22:42
in the um and the straits of uh Hormuz
22:47
are make it impossible and you know this
22:49
two-month delay now it's starting to go
22:52
back in their favor but you never hear
22:55
these stories um
22:59
uh in u
23:02
American press really. So, um, at any
23:06
rate, this is, uh, here's another one
23:10
for you on draft enforcers
23:13
opened fire. Ukrainian enlistment
23:17
officers opened fire, shot shooting at
23:19
people. Um,
23:22
so,
23:25
and they
23:27
started firing at him. So Ukrainian
23:30
enlistment officers opened fire at
23:32
members of the community who attempted
23:34
to retrieve a man from a recruitment
23:36
center in Transcarpathia
23:39
in the western Ukraine. The incident
23:42
occurred in the village of Megoria on
23:45
Saturday after a gang seized a local
23:50
man. According to Ukrainian journalist
23:52
Vatitali Glagola,
23:56
around 30 people gathered outside the
23:58
office and tried to force their way
24:00
inside. Um the journalist claimed that
24:03
several shots were fired using a pistol
24:06
and a pistol and a Kalishnikov. And he
24:09
added that officials denied shooting,
24:12
saying that they had only shot blank
24:14
rounds, which you know contradicted
24:18
footage
24:20
uh that was shown. And even now, the
24:22
testimony of the employees doesn't match
24:26
what they were saying. The confrontation
24:28
was later confirmed and acknowledged
24:31
that a group had attempted to uh break
24:34
into the military facility and ignored
24:37
the lawful demands of military. The
24:40
threat was localized. the attack was
24:42
repelled and um um you know booification
24:47
was ongoing and uh so now you got people
24:51
attacking uh recruiting headquarters and
24:54
uh being fired upon. Isn't that crazy
24:59
that you know another
25:02
um another
25:07
attack? They're just everywhere.
25:12
Well, let's see what else we got here
25:15
today.
25:19
Well, there was a story that I don't
25:21
know if you had heard or if anybody had
25:24
heard this, but Israel built a base in
25:29
Iraq
25:31
to bomb Iran.
25:34
So, the IDF attacked and killed Iraqi
25:38
troops who discovered Israel's outpost.
25:42
How about this? So, Israel secretly
25:46
built a military outpost in the Iraqi
25:49
desert to support its air campaign
25:53
against Iran and launch strikes on Iraqi
25:56
troops who discovered it. According to
25:59
the Wall Street Journal, the base was
26:02
set up shortly before the US and Israel
26:05
launched their military campaign against
26:08
Iran in February. The US was aware of
26:12
this installation, which housed Israeli
26:14
special forces and served as a logistics
26:17
hub for the Israeli Air Force, and it
26:20
hosted search and rescue teams in case
26:22
Israeli pilots were shot down.
26:26
The outpost was nearly exposed in March
26:29
after a local shepherd noticed unusual
26:32
military activity, including
26:34
helicopters, and alerted authorities.
26:36
Iraqi soldiers moved to investigate the
26:39
site, but came under heavy fire. They
26:42
left the attack left one Iraqi soldier
26:46
dead and two others wounded.
26:49
Ain't that crazy? Baghdad blames
26:52
Washington after security forces found
26:54
evidence that foreign military personnel
26:57
had been operating in the area. And so
26:59
it appeared there were certain uh force
27:02
on the ground before the strike
27:04
supported from the air operating beyond
27:06
the capabilities of our units said
27:10
Lieutenant General Kash al Muhammadawi
27:14
deputy commander on an of Iraq's joint
27:17
operations command and he told Iraqi
27:19
state media after the attack in March
27:21
this reckless operation was carried out
27:25
without coordination or approval and the
27:28
base reportedly helped Israel fight a
27:30
long range war against Iran whose
27:34
territory is over 1,600 kilometers
27:37
thousand miles from Israel. An Israeli
27:39
aircraft carried out thousands of
27:42
strikes
27:43
um while the Iraqi desert outpost gave
27:47
Israeli t teams a forward position
27:49
closer to the battlefield. The IDF
27:52
doesn't comment and refused to comment
27:55
on the latest report, which adds to a
27:57
growing scrutiny of how Israel's
27:59
confrontation with Iran has expanded
28:01
into broader regional conflict and
28:03
pulling the US deeper inside
28:07
to the countries and hostilities.
28:11
Former US counterterrorism chief Joe
28:14
Kent, who resigned in March, has accused
28:17
Israel of driving Washington into war
28:20
despite US intelligence assessments that
28:23
Thran is not actively building a nuclear
28:26
weapon, which by the way is agreed upon
28:28
by the IAEA.
28:30
Kent claimed that US agencies had warned
28:34
Iran would retaliate by targeting
28:36
American bases and attempting to shut
28:38
down the Straits of Hormuz if attacked.
28:41
And he argued that the Israeli narrative
28:43
about Iranian threat ultimately won the
28:46
argument in Washington and forced the US
28:49
into the conflict. Trump officials have
28:52
denied that Israel dragged Washington
28:54
into the war. Um, put me in coach. US
28:58
Secretary of War Pete Hegs said earlier
29:02
this week that President Donald Trump
29:05
acted based on America's interest and
29:09
his America first policy and he
29:12
dismissed the idea that Prime Minister
29:14
Netanyahu
29:16
pulled the US into the conflict. He
29:20
calls it a false premise.
29:24
Isn't that crazy?
29:27
Um, earlier I was talking to you about
29:30
uh the anniversary of uh the 81st
29:34
anniversary of Germany's surrender and
29:37
how it became
29:40
one of the chief celebrations
29:44
um in Russia.
29:47
And I wanted to share this with you
29:50
because people wonder about that. Now, I
29:53
say it's because of how much
29:56
the war and the conflict um World War II
30:01
touched every family. And you know,
30:04
sometimes it takes a couple three
30:06
generations to uh get past it. And um
30:11
most if not all
30:14
um people who fought during that war in
30:18
the ' 40s, I mean the people that were
30:21
born in the 40s would be in their 80s
30:23
now, right? And so um the people who
30:27
fought would be at age 100 and there
30:30
there's still a couple, you know, that
30:32
have appeared and whatnot at victory
30:34
days and stuff like that. Um, I didn't
30:38
get to watch any of the footage from the
30:40
uh I saw a few pictures, but I mean I
30:42
didn't get to watch any of the parade. I
30:44
heard um uh Putin's speech, but uh I
30:48
didn't uh uh watch a whole lot of the
30:54
parade go through. But World War II's
30:56
victory day, celebrated in Russia on May
30:59
9th, is a very special holiday.
31:03
It was the greatest trial and the
31:05
greatest triumph in Russian's um modern
31:08
history. But the celebrations have
31:10
acquired their current shape and form
31:13
not all that long ago and some important
31:16
traditions were established fairly
31:18
recently.
31:20
Um, the act of unconditional surrender
31:23
of the German Third Reich was signed by
31:26
Field Marshal Wilhelm Kaitel on May 8,
31:31
1945
31:33
at 10:43 p.m. Central European time. So
31:38
in Moscow, it was already the early
31:40
hours of May the 9th. That very morning,
31:44
Russians found out that the war, which
31:46
had claimed 27 million Soviet lives, was
31:50
over and the enemy had surrendered. The
31:54
first celebration of victory in World
31:56
War II, or as Russia calls it, the Great
32:00
Patriotic War, took place that very day.
32:06
Army reports dropped their official tone
32:09
and described how the residents of
32:11
Prague pulled the troops off their
32:14
armored vehicles and danced and drank
32:17
together. In the provinces, people ran
32:20
out onto the streets and congratulated
32:23
each other. Indeed, some fanatical Nazis
32:27
continued to put up some resistance.
32:29
Europe was full of mines and reports
32:32
stated that there were many losses
32:34
throughout the month of May. But the big
32:37
war was over and to the sound of
32:39
fireworks, people began returning home.
32:43
No one doubted that victory in World War
32:46
II was an incredible event, but people
32:50
were grieving the deaths of relatives
32:52
and friends, and their pain was great.
32:55
May 9 was immediately designated a
32:58
national holiday, but lavish
33:01
celebrations seemed out of place as the
33:03
country was in ruins
33:06
and mentally and physically crippled
33:08
soldiers, concentration camp prisoners,
33:13
uh, osterbiters and refugees
33:17
returned home in western Ukraine and the
33:21
Baltic states. Battles against
33:24
nationalist partisans continued. In
33:26
those years, Victory Day parade was held
33:30
once in the summer of 1945.
33:34
During this spectacle, the Vermacht and
33:37
SS banners seized in Germany were thrown
33:40
in front of the Kremlin. But in the
33:42
following years, the celebration became
33:45
more modest. But every year on May 9th,
33:48
there were was a fireworks display. But
33:51
otherwise from 1947 it was a regular
33:54
work day even though a festive one and
33:57
vest and veterans usually celebrated
34:01
with friends. Things changed in 1965.
34:06
By that time, 20 years had passed since
34:09
the end of the war, and new Soviet
34:12
leader Leoned Brisv, who himself was a
34:15
World War II veteran, decided to once
34:18
again make May 9 a day off. From then
34:23
on, military parades were held on
34:25
Victory Day uh in in on Jubilees. The
34:29
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial
34:32
was opened on the Kremlin Wall. The
34:35
tradition of laying wreaths at the
34:37
memorials was established. In short, the
34:40
holiday acquired a grand scale and bea
34:44
became quite solemn after the nation's
34:47
pain had somewhat sui subsided.
34:51
Uh the country is gone, but the memory
34:54
remains. The annual largescale
34:56
celebration of Victory Day with parades
35:00
held across the country and a military
35:02
parade on Red Square is a fairly new
35:06
tradition. After the collapse of the
35:08
Soviet Union, an obvious question arose,
35:11
what would be done with the country's
35:13
communist let legacy and symbology? For
35:17
example, the day of the 1917 revolution
35:21
was observed on November 7. It was
35:24
replaced by another holiday associated
35:28
with Russian national heroes Min and
35:32
Pojarski
35:33
who lived in the 17th century but no one
35:36
ever considered revising May 9th as
35:40
victory day.
35:43
Uh however
35:45
the authorities wanted to separate the
35:48
holiday from socialist ideology
35:52
ideology.
35:55
In the Soviet Union ideology and victory
35:58
were inseparable. But in the '9s a new
36:01
era came about. The USSR was gone. Many
36:05
war heroes uh fell prey in new
36:08
conflicts. For example, Vladimir
36:11
Bachovski, a hero of the battle in
36:14
Ukraine and Germany, became a citizen of
36:17
the unrecognized Republic of
36:20
Transnistria,
36:22
which started a bloody uprising against
36:24
a former Soviet Republic of Malddova.
36:28
Melatin Canaria, the standard bearer who
36:31
had hoisted the Soviet flag over the
36:33
Reichag, was forced to flee from Mkhazia
36:37
when an ethnic conflict broke out
36:39
between Albazians and Georgians, even
36:42
though by that time he was a very old
36:44
man. So at that time a question arose.
36:49
What does victory day mean in the new
36:52
republics? Opinions differed. In Baltic
36:56
states, national elites believed that in
36:59
the 40s their countries had been held
37:01
hostage by two totalitarian regimes.
37:06
Moreover, unofficially, the Nazis were
37:09
preferred over the communists.
37:11
For example, in Latvia, the memorial day
37:15
of the Latvian SS Legion is celebrated
37:19
for some time. In many other USSR
37:23
republics, Victory Day
37:27
is still celebrated in one way or
37:29
another. In Russia, Victory Day has
37:32
remained one of the most important
37:34
national holidays and a key moment in
37:38
Russian history, but the holiday has
37:40
lost some of its political meaning. For
37:43
example, Lenin's mausoleum is draped on
37:46
May 9 in order to avoid ideological
37:50
ties. And a new symbol has been added to
37:53
the celebrations, the black and orange
37:55
St. George ribbon, which resembles both
37:58
the ribbon of the Order of St. George,
38:00
the highest military decoration in
38:02
Imperial Russia, and the ribbon of the
38:05
Order of Glory, a World War II soldiers
38:09
award.
38:10
Russian communist and leftists did not
38:13
like the fact that Soviet symbols were
38:16
replaced. But for the majority of
38:18
Russian people, other aspects turn out
38:21
to be more important. W World War II
38:25
impacted almost every family in Russia.
38:30
And most people consider the Soviet era
38:34
as simply one period in the country's
38:36
history. Therefore, national motives are
38:40
considered far more important than
38:43
Soviet symbology.
38:47
However, an even more pressing question
38:50
was how Victory Day would look and what
38:53
it would mean following the death of
38:55
most war veterans. World War II was
38:59
mainly won by people who were born in
39:02
the 1900 to 1920s.
39:05
The last generation which really
39:07
participated in the war was born in
39:10
1926.
39:12
By 2010, those veterans were already 85
39:16
years old. And today, most Russians do
39:19
not personally know anyone who fought in
39:23
World War II. So, the answer to the
39:26
question, what to do next, was found,
39:29
and it was offered not by the state, but
39:32
by the people. An old holiday celebrated
39:36
in a new way. In 2012,
39:40
three journalists from the provincial
39:43
city of Tumsk organized a street march.
39:47
The descendants of veterans marched
39:49
through the city bearing photos of their
39:52
deceased relatives who had fought in
39:55
World War II.
39:57
The event was dubbed the Immortal
40:00
Regiment, and that year 6,000 people
40:04
participated in the march on May 9th.
40:07
And while for these people, the war was
40:10
no longer a part of their own lives, it
40:12
remained a part of their family history.
40:15
After all, everyone had a grandfather or
40:19
grandmother who fought. And if the word
40:22
greatgrandfather
40:23
sounded abstract to many, my
40:26
grandmother's father felt much more
40:29
personal. The idea of marching with the
40:32
photographs of their heroic ancestors
40:35
appealed to people all over Russia. And
40:40
the very next year, the immortal
40:42
regiment events were held in almost all
40:44
the major cities of Russia. The march
40:48
instantly became a victory day tradition
40:51
and the event gained official status. An
40:55
online offshoot of the immortal regiment
40:58
also appeared, a platform where anyone
41:02
can publish information about their
41:04
ancestors who fought in World War II.
41:08
The number of such records on the
41:10
website is approaching 1 million. And so
41:14
May 9th has acquired a new meaning. It
41:17
became not only a veterans holiday or a
41:21
celebration of military triumph, but a
41:24
memorial march which allows people to
41:27
honor their personal family history.
41:32
Some of the photos in this story are
41:34
just incredible. shows how crowded it
41:37
was and people walking with uh photos of
41:40
their uh family.
41:44
Each country has its own memorable
41:46
dates. For example, July the 4th brings
41:49
Americans together, but for the rest of
41:51
the world, it's just any just another
41:54
day. For China, October 1, the day of
41:58
the formation of the People's Republic
42:00
of China, is one of the main dates in
42:03
its history. For Russia, May 9th is a
42:06
date that is permanently ingrained in
42:08
the country's history and culture.
42:11
During World War II, the people of the
42:14
country along with those of other USSR
42:18
republics survived a meat grinder that
42:21
lasted four years. They did not allow
42:24
themselves to be broken, but defeated
42:27
the enemy and then proceeded to be
42:30
rebuild their country from the ruins.
42:33
Russia lost a huge amount of people in
42:37
World War II and victory came at an
42:41
unthinkable price, but it was
42:44
unconditional. That is why for Russians,
42:47
May the 9th isn't just a celebration of
42:50
a military triumph. It is a celebration
42:54
of victory over death.
42:57
So that story or uh article was written
43:01
by a guy named Yfghenei Norin who's a
43:05
Russian journalist and historian focused
43:08
on war and conflict in the former Soviet
43:12
Union.
43:14
And uh you know that's kind of
43:17
interesting. I remember seeing those Red
43:19
Square parades uh when I was in the
43:21
military myself as a young man and
43:24
watching them and uh seeing them today.
43:27
They're still they're still pretty uh
43:30
you know pretty powerful and they put a
43:32
a lot out there. But you wonder how
43:35
they, you know, how that uh
43:40
tradition
43:42
uh evolved, I I guess would be the right
43:44
word, evolved over the uh
43:49
uh over the years.
43:53
Um
43:54
let's see. We're gonna talk about
43:59
the
44:02
uh
44:04
you know, Prime Minister FTO remember he
44:06
was in Moscow um and he attended victory
44:10
day. Um
44:14
he
44:17
described a new iron curtain between the
44:21
EU and Russia and called for restoration
44:25
of dialogue with Russia instead of
44:30
continuous hatred. You know, he's been
44:33
pretty vocal about this kind of thing.
44:37
and uh he
44:40
uh described himself as one of EU's
44:44
black sheep over his stance on Russia.
44:49
And he's the only sitting EU leader
44:53
to travel to Moscow for victory day and
44:56
to meet with President Putin. and he
44:59
drew harsh criticism from Brussels and
45:02
uh several member states. In a video
45:05
statement posted on Facebook on
45:07
Saturday, Fatso accused the EU of
45:10
downplaying the Soviet Union's role in
45:14
defeating Nazi Germany and uh he was on
45:18
board the Slovakian government jet
45:21
returning from Moscow. He warned that
45:23
Brussels Russia policy was damaging the
45:26
blocks competitiveness
45:29
and energy security. He also shared some
45:33
footage of his visit. He said also, "I
45:37
reject a new iron curtain between the
45:41
European Union and Russia. We are
45:44
interested in standard, friendly, and
45:47
mutually beneficial relations with this
45:50
world power."
45:52
By the way, it's um they say now Mertz
45:55
said that there's going to be some um
45:59
repercussions for this and Brussels,
46:03
Germany, you know, what are they going
46:05
to do? They're going to, you know,
46:06
attack their their uh gas through the
46:10
pipeline. So, Drewgebuzz reopened and u
46:15
um Maguier from who is who took over for
46:19
Orbin in Hungary uh has you know now
46:24
they're going to be pressuring him cuz
46:26
this is what they did to to to him.
46:29
remember he collected all that money
46:31
which uh they wouldn't give to uh
46:35
uh
46:37
the
46:40
uh prior leader of Hungary, Orbin, and
46:43
they wouldn't give it to him. And now
46:45
they're going to do now it's going to be
46:47
they're going to be exactly the same
46:49
thing that they do to Fitos to try to
46:52
destroy him and try to get him thrown
46:54
out. and they're they're they're already
46:56
pushing and advertising that sort of
46:58
thing. Um, but Fitos argued that the EU
47:02
is making a huge mistake by relying on
47:05
sanctions and military support
47:09
for Ukraine instead of talking, you
47:12
know, doing some sort of diplomacy with
47:14
Moscow.
47:16
He said his talks in the Kremlin focused
47:19
on energy cooperation. And he accuses
47:21
the EU of pursuing ideological policy of
47:25
cutting off Russian energy supplies at
47:27
the expense of European competitiveness.
47:31
And he said we cannot just out of hatred
47:34
for Russia replace one energy dependence
47:39
with another. This time American, he
47:42
argued. According to energy data, the US
47:45
supplied more than half of the blocks
47:48
LNG imports in 2025.
47:52
and um European Commission reportedly
47:55
removed a proposal to fully phase out
47:58
Russian oil from its near-term agenda
48:01
amid concerns that the Iran war and
48:04
continuing disruptions in the Straits of
48:07
Hormuz
48:08
uh would cause further fuel prices and
48:11
destabilize Europe's energy supply.
48:16
Isn't that terrible?
48:19
Well, this is the point where I would
48:22
normally uh
48:26
um provide a song, you know, and a
48:29
break, but I'm going to uh proceed.
48:36
What I wanted to do next was uh Putin
48:39
gave after the uh
48:43
victory day.
48:45
He gave a
48:48
press conference
48:50
and this is pretty recent. And uh so
48:58
he wanted to uh
49:03
well journalist wanted to question him
49:06
over several things and uh there's
49:11
a a journalist named Lana Samsonia.
49:15
She's from Interfax and she talked about
49:17
victory day, Trump's ceasefire proposal,
49:22
security measures.
49:24
uh she wanted to talk about the uh
49:28
overall assessment of uh the conduct of
49:31
Victory Day, especially in light of
49:34
President Trump's initiative for a 3-day
49:38
ceasefire,
49:40
K's provocative statements before May 9,
49:44
and the fact that the parade was held in
49:47
a reduced format
49:49
because of security concerns. And so
49:52
Putin was a little bit cautious and he
49:55
said he was physically at the Ministry
49:58
of of Defense and had not yet received
50:03
any military report about any
50:06
provocations. But he explained
50:09
that Russia had already decided to hold
50:12
the victory day ceremonies without a
50:15
display of military equip equipment, not
50:17
only for security reasons, but because
50:20
the armed forces should remain focused
50:22
on the military operation. He said
50:26
Russia responded to Kiev's threatened
50:29
statements uh through the defense
50:31
ministry
50:33
and the foreign ministry
50:36
and uh you know he talked about these uh
50:42
uh emphasizing that Russia you know was
50:46
still planning on uh
50:49
uh
50:53
taking retaliatory strikes.
50:55
you know and he he
50:58
stated that they had already warned and
51:00
talked to partners including China,
51:02
India, United States,
51:07
other centers in Kiev. He has still
51:09
hasn't ruled that out, you know, and he
51:12
had already um proposed exchanging 500
51:16
servicemen, but uh Ukraine, they wanted
51:20
we're going to exchange some prisoners,
51:23
but u his bottom line was that Russia
51:27
supported the US's humanitarian
51:30
proposal. And another one was a guy
51:34
named
51:36
uh well it doesn't matter what the names
51:38
of these journalists are I suppose and
51:40
he talked about uh Armenia being absent
51:44
and uh the bilateral meetings and with
51:48
Armenia that we talked about a little
51:50
bit here previously and he asked about
51:55
Armenia being absent from the parade
51:57
especially given that uh Armenian prime
52:00
minister host posted Zalinski and
52:02
allowed him to, you know, talk about
52:05
those anti-Russian statements. And Putin
52:07
said the main subject of the meeting was
52:10
victory day itself, the shared victory
52:13
over Nazism,
52:15
preservation of the historical memory,
52:18
and the need to prevent anything similar
52:20
from happening again. And he shifted
52:22
into practical matters. emphasized
52:25
Russia's relations with Bellarus,
52:27
Kazakhstan, Usbekiststan, Laos
52:31
highlighted the scale of trade with
52:32
Bellarus, the growth of Kazakhstan
52:35
Beckistan, importance of the Southeast
52:38
Asia. um on our media. He said uh that
52:41
there were no um
52:45
uh invitations that had been formally
52:48
sent because this wasn't one of the
52:50
Jubilee events, you know, like every 5
52:53
years, 10 years, anything like that like
52:55
last year's was. So, it shouldn't be
52:58
over emphasized that they're they
53:01
weren't here this time. and he praised
53:04
certain leaders that came anyways, you
53:06
know, Fitos and he said uh he talked
53:10
about Armenia's move
53:13
toward the European Union. He actually
53:16
was pretty strategic here. He said
53:17
Russia would support whatever is
53:20
genuinely beneficial to Armenia and
53:24
Armenian people, but that Armenia must
53:26
calculate the economic consequences. He
53:30
said Armenia receives significant
53:32
benefits through Eurasian economic
53:35
arrangements and that Russia Armenia
53:39
trade is a large
53:41
u you know especially relative to
53:44
Armenia's GDP and Putin suggested that a
53:47
referendum would be a logical way for
53:50
Armenia to decide its future direction.
53:54
Um, and if Armenia chooses the EU, then
53:58
Russia would seek um a mutually
54:02
beneficial divorce is how he put it. He
54:05
said a soft, intelligent, mutually
54:07
beneficial divorce. You know, when I
54:10
practice law, I used to say stuff like
54:12
that. You know, the divorce needs to be
54:14
uh you know, you guys need to be adults
54:17
about this. And uh you know with the
54:20
people who play games, man, I was never
54:23
interested in that. You know, I just
54:25
want to want to screw that so and so
54:29
over. Oh my god, I hated to hear that
54:32
stuff.
54:33
Uh anyway, he also used Ukraine as a
54:36
warning, an example, and he argued that
54:38
Ukraine's first move toward the EU
54:41
created a practical trade and regulatory
54:44
problems involved customs, agriculture,
54:48
industrial goods. And in Putin's um
54:53
statements, European rigidity over these
54:56
issues contributed to today's political
54:59
crisis. Certainly the Maidan coup,
55:03
Crimea, Southeast Ukraine resistance and
55:06
ultimately war. And his message to
55:09
Armenia is clear. Decide, calculate, and
55:13
try not to drift into a crisis is uh
55:16
basically what he was saying. Um
55:22
let's see. Um
55:26
a guy from a magazine called uh
55:29
Commerant
55:32
Uh he asked why Putin was silent when
55:36
Zalinski
55:37
responded to Russia's May8 ceasefire
55:41
by announcing a ceasefire to begin on
55:44
May 6th. He asked also whether Slovak
55:49
Prime Minister Fitos had delivered a
55:51
message from Zalinski to him and whether
55:55
Putin had to,
55:59
you know, force himself to deal with
56:01
Zalinski. And Putin said that he
56:04
described his phone conversation with
56:05
Trump saying Trump spoke respectfully
56:09
about the shared allied struggle against
56:11
Nazism and supported the idea of a
56:14
ceasefire. um surrounding May 9 and he
56:18
said that uh Russia had announced May 8
56:21
and 9 and had received no immediate
56:25
reaction and then Kiev later gave its
56:28
own May 6 proposal because it didn't
56:31
want to simply accept what Russia
56:33
offered. Uh Putin frame KV's conduct as
56:38
gamesmanship and contrasted it with
56:40
Russia's view of May 9 as a a pretty
56:45
much sacred day tied to the enormous
56:48
Soviet and Russian losses in World War
56:51
II. He said that Russia was not playing
56:54
games with Victory Day. They just
56:56
wouldn't do it. And he said that Russia
56:59
had proposed a prisoner exchange on May
57:02
5, including 500 Ukrainian servicemen
57:08
and welcome Trump's exchange proposal.
57:11
But on the question of meeting Zilinski,
57:13
Putin said he wasn't gonna refuse to
57:16
meet with him just on the base of
57:18
principle. But he said anyone who wants
57:21
to meet may come to Moscow and that a
57:24
meeting in a third country would also be
57:26
possible, but only when specialists have
57:29
already finalized a durable peace
57:32
agreement ready for signature. And Putin
57:35
argued that high level negotiation
57:37
without prior substantive agreement are
57:40
usually pointless. And he cited his own
57:43
experience with Minsk,
57:45
the Minsk process where leaders would
57:48
talk day and night and no result. And
57:51
notably uh Putin doesn't appear to give
57:54
a direct confirmation or denial about
57:57
feather fo
58:00
delivered a message from Zalinski to
58:02
him. So, um,
58:06
he wanted to know another journalist
58:09
wanted to ask about, uh, how Putin, uh,
58:13
continues to view Ukrainian settlement
58:16
efforts
58:19
involving the United States, especially
58:23
given that negotiations had stalled
58:25
after uh, you know, contacts and Marco
58:27
Rubio suggested it's not worth spending
58:30
time on the process. remember that from
58:33
several weeks ago where Rubio Rubio says
58:36
it's just a waste of everybody's time.
58:37
Well, Putin's response was short and he
58:41
said the conflict is a matter between
58:43
Russia and Ukraine. If others want to
58:46
help, Russia welcomes that help. But he
58:49
said that the current US administration
58:51
and Trump appear interested in
58:53
settlement. And he emphasized that the
58:55
US has other priorities and does not
58:58
need this conflict. So Putin said that
59:02
Russia is grateful for such efforts but
59:04
he returned to the central point. The
59:06
core settlement issue is between Russia
59:09
and Ukraine. Um another uh journalist
59:14
asked him about long range attacks
59:17
inside of Russia and whether the west
59:20
has gone too far
59:22
and uh he said that the terrorist threat
59:25
from the Kiev regime is growing. He
59:28
cited attacks far from the border in
59:31
places such as Yakatarinberg, Perm,
59:34
Chibuk, Chibbaksari.
59:36
And the question um asked about whether
59:39
the West has allowed itself too much
59:43
since Western officials themselves
59:45
acknowledge that Kiev couldn't continue
59:49
the war for long without outside
59:52
support. And Putin said that he defines
59:55
the west more narrowly as the globalist
59:59
wing of western elite elites which he
1:00:03
said uh Russia you know is fighting
1:00:06
Russia uh with the hands of the
1:00:09
Ukrainians. And he said the conflict was
1:00:12
provoked by western disregard for uh
1:00:15
Russian interests and by using Ukraine
1:00:18
as a geopolitical
1:00:20
instrument. And so he returned to NATO
1:00:24
expansionism saying Russia has been
1:00:27
deceived since the early 90s. I thought
1:00:30
that was important when he said that.
1:00:32
And he said that uh uh you know talking
1:00:36
about NATO expansion and the deception
1:00:40
that surrounded it was uh
1:00:43
one of the more blunt things that he uh
1:00:47
he has said. Now, he said it before, but
1:00:50
usually he's a little more diplomatic.
1:00:52
And this one, he's just like, well,
1:00:54
they, you know, basically pulled the
1:00:56
wool over our eyes and uh by claiming
1:01:00
they weren't going to, and then they
1:01:01
did. Then he revisited the 2022 Istanbul
1:01:06
negotiations and talked about how they
1:01:08
had already initialed an agreement and
1:01:11
then Western leaders um intervened. He
1:01:14
said Mcronone told him that Ukraine
1:01:17
wouldn't sign a historic agreement with
1:01:20
a pistol to its temple after which
1:01:23
Russia withdrew forces from near Kiev.
1:01:27
Now, that part I hadn't heard before
1:01:29
where Macron told him that Ukraine uh
1:01:32
wouldn't sign an agreement with a pistol
1:01:34
to its temple cuz people were wondering.
1:01:37
Remember, Russia was already inside of
1:01:39
Kiev or very very close to it. And uh
1:01:43
Mcronone
1:01:44
uh told him, "All right, well, they're
1:01:46
not going to sign an agreement with a
1:01:49
pistol to the with a gun to their head."
1:01:51
And so uh Russia withdrew its forces
1:01:54
from Kiev. And then um Boris Johnson
1:01:58
came to Kiev and said, you know, they
1:02:00
weren't going to sign anyway,
1:02:03
convinced him to not sign anyway. And
1:02:06
Putin used this as continuing evidence
1:02:08
that the West is uh prolonging and has
1:02:11
prolonged this conflict. And he said,
1:02:13
"Western elites expected Russia to
1:02:16
collapse in months, but that it didn't
1:02:19
happen and it's left them stuck in a
1:02:21
confrontation. They cannot exit." And
1:02:24
then he added that uh uh you know
1:02:26
sensible political force still does
1:02:30
exist in Europe and he expressed the
1:02:32
hope that such forces will uh gain
1:02:35
influence or possibly even return to
1:02:38
power. And then he also said something
1:02:42
about the US and Iran and he described
1:02:44
it as difficult for Russia because
1:02:47
Moscow has good relations with Iran and
1:02:50
friendly relations with the Gulf. And he
1:02:53
said Russia remains in contact with both
1:02:55
side and hopes the confrontation will be
1:02:58
stopped quickly. And his warning was
1:03:01
blunt that if the escalation
1:03:04
you know continues, everybody loses.
1:03:08
And um
1:03:10
he he said um you know another
1:03:14
journalist asked about the coalition of
1:03:17
the willing. He he said that there may
1:03:19
be another coalition emerging that wants
1:03:23
to restore contact with Russia. And the
1:03:28
uh this journalist said that the um
1:03:34
uh head of the European Council
1:03:37
mentioned the search for a person to
1:03:39
represent them and asked Putin who he
1:03:42
would prefer and whether any rational
1:03:45
politicians remain in Western Europe was
1:03:48
a great question by the way. Uh and
1:03:50
Putin said that personally he'd prefer
1:03:52
German chancellor uh the former German
1:03:55
chancellor Gard Schroeder and beyond
1:03:58
that he said Europeans should choose a
1:04:00
leader they trust and one who has not
1:04:02
said nasty things about Russia. His
1:04:05
broader point is that Russia has never
1:04:07
closed the door and uh Russia has never
1:04:10
refused talks. Europe has and uh so
1:04:16
you know
1:04:18
these were this was very interesting to
1:04:20
hear him speak because there was a lot
1:04:22
of wartime rhetoric going on here. A lot
1:04:24
of a lot of
1:04:27
I don't know these questions were were
1:04:30
pretty pointed you know and attacking.
1:04:32
And this next one was a a pretty big one
1:04:35
about Baltic airspace.
1:04:39
There was a woman who asked about Baltic
1:04:41
region becoming a corridor for Ukrainian
1:04:44
drones and about drones being used
1:04:47
against Russia that were assembled from
1:04:51
factories in Europe. She asked what
1:04:54
Russia is going to do with his
1:04:55
information and whether the security
1:04:58
zone Russia is creating near its borders
1:05:01
needs to be expanded all the way to
1:05:04
Ukraine's western border. So that was
1:05:07
pretty uh pretty u uh um interesting
1:05:13
question. you know, obviously a smartass
1:05:15
question and uh uh Putin's answer was uh
1:05:19
short but uh you know, pretty pretty uh
1:05:23
wide reaching. He said that that the
1:05:25
journalist had answered her own question
1:05:28
that Russia make must make sure that no
1:05:31
one can threaten it. And he said that is
1:05:34
what Russia has been seeking to achieve.
1:05:36
He said that Europe supplies technology
1:05:39
and that equipment is partially
1:05:41
assembled there. And he calls this an
1:05:44
unprecedented escalation. But he said
1:05:47
Europe now appears to be seeking contact
1:05:49
with Russia because that it understands
1:05:53
maybe finally that raising the stakes uh
1:05:56
is proving far more costly.
1:06:00
Then there was a question about Iranian
1:06:03
enriched uranium and Russia's uh
1:06:06
proposed mediation and uh it um
1:06:13
talks about
1:06:16
Iran's uh nuclear program enriched
1:06:20
uranium Ukraanium uranium and Putin said
1:06:23
Russia had already played this type of
1:06:25
role in 2015 and that Iran trusts Russia
1:06:29
because Moscow doesn't violate its
1:06:31
agreements and uh continues peaceful
1:06:34
nuclear cooperation with Iran, including
1:06:37
the Busher nuclear project. Putin said
1:06:40
Russia had offered to repeat that model
1:06:43
and Iran could transfer enriched uranium
1:06:45
to Russia and it could be handled
1:06:48
transparently and under the IAEA. And he
1:06:51
said that at first the US, Iran and
1:06:54
Israel all agreed on this. Then the US
1:06:57
hardened its position and demanded the
1:06:59
material be exported only to the US.
1:07:03
Iran said no and refused to export the
1:07:06
uranium anywhere. And Putin said Iran
1:07:08
has proposed a different format, joint
1:07:11
ventures on uranian territory to dilute
1:07:14
uranium inside Iran. And Russia was not
1:07:17
opposed if it could deescalate. But
1:07:20
Putin said the United States and Israel
1:07:23
wouldn't accept that. and he says the
1:07:26
track is deadlocked and he insists that
1:07:28
Russian proposal uh remains on the table
1:07:32
because it would allow Iran to transfer
1:07:34
material to a friendly country, keep
1:07:37
peaceful nuclear cooperation intact and
1:07:40
place that process under the IAEA and
1:07:43
reduce tension without Russia seeking,
1:07:46
you know, some sort of leverage. And he
1:07:49
said Russia would support any solution
1:07:51
that broke the deadlock. And uh so I
1:07:55
mean that would be um
1:07:58
you know worthwhile.
1:08:01
Um now there's um I I I think it's
1:08:06
coming up the preparations for uh um
1:08:13
Trump go I mean obviously Trump and Xi
1:08:16
Jinping are supposed to meet in China
1:08:17
here before too long but wanted to know
1:08:21
cuz Putin's visit to China is coming up
1:08:24
as well and so uh
1:08:28
a reporter asked whether there's any
1:08:30
connection
1:08:31
between the two visits and she asked
1:08:34
what key issues Putin is uh wanting to
1:08:38
discuss with she and Putin answered that
1:08:41
Russia China cooperation is one of the
1:08:43
most important stabilizing factors in
1:08:46
international relations because many
1:08:49
security disarmament and nuclear arms
1:08:52
agreements have either collapsed or
1:08:55
disappeared. And he said China is
1:08:57
Russia's largest trade partner. Um he
1:09:01
says that about 140 billion a year and
1:09:04
he says it continues to grow and
1:09:06
diversify
1:09:07
especially in the high technology
1:09:09
sectors and he thanks Xi Jinping
1:09:12
personally for supporting the
1:09:14
diversification
1:09:16
of late and then he listed major areas
1:09:19
of cooperation in nuclear energy,
1:09:21
alternative energy, space, traditional
1:09:24
energy, oil and gas. He said Russia and
1:09:27
China are close to agreement on a major
1:09:30
step forward in oil and gas cooperation,
1:09:33
but he didn't give any details. And I
1:09:36
wonder if this is Seven Poke Dais um not
1:09:41
Seven Poke uh Putri or something like
1:09:45
that. It's a Siberia 2 uh road to
1:09:48
Siberia or something like that. And uh
1:09:51
it goes through Mongolia and so into
1:09:54
China. and they were trying to talk
1:09:56
about that and I wonder we've spoken
1:09:59
about that uh several times before and I
1:10:02
wonder if that one is uh finally they
1:10:05
have some uh news regarding that. So
1:10:08
regarding Trump's visit and with Xi
1:10:11
Jinping that's allegedly coming up.
1:10:13
Putin welcomes such talks and he calls
1:10:16
them another stabilizing element because
1:10:18
the US and China trade relations affect
1:10:22
the whole world. He said Russia hopes
1:10:24
there will be no illegitimate sanctions
1:10:26
for unnecessary
1:10:28
economic tension between the two powers
1:10:32
and his view was that stable and
1:10:34
constructive US relations uh tend to
1:10:37
benefit Russia. So I thought that was an
1:10:40
interesting perspective.
1:10:42
Um,
1:10:44
let's see.
1:10:48
Um,
1:10:50
a reporter from Ria Novesty uh asked
1:10:53
about the historical memory. Asked why
1:10:56
Europe now avoids mentioning heroism of
1:11:00
Soviet soldiers and even bans St. George
1:11:04
ribbons. She asked whether this trend
1:11:06
will worsen and what Russia can do about
1:11:09
it.
1:11:10
Putin answered that the stronger Russia
1:11:12
becomes, the faster this behavior will
1:11:15
disappear. And he said that Europe's
1:11:17
treatment of Soviet memory um as a form
1:11:21
of re of um
1:11:24
uh
1:11:25
re re-entrenchment by the same globalist
1:11:29
western elites that he had already
1:11:31
criticized earlier in the briefing. He
1:11:34
argued that those elites expected Russia
1:11:37
to collapse within 6 months under
1:11:39
sanctions, factories would be stopped,
1:11:42
banks would be broken, and millions
1:11:44
unemployed. Instead, he said Russia's
1:11:46
maintained very low unemployment and has
1:11:49
avoided the collapse the Western elites
1:11:53
expected
1:11:54
and uh that just hasn't happened. And so
1:11:59
he then suggested that some European
1:12:01
actors hoped to grab something from
1:12:04
Russia if it had weakened. Now, I've
1:12:06
talked about this before, too, that a
1:12:08
bunch of the globalist elites, all they
1:12:10
had ever really wanted was for Russia to
1:12:13
collapse so that they could part it out.
1:12:17
and Ukraine could steal a bunch, Finland
1:12:20
could grab some, the pre-balticky could
1:12:22
get some, and then uh, of course, the US
1:12:26
through uh, uh, you know, investment and
1:12:30
things like that could uh, split a bunch
1:12:32
of it up as well,
1:12:35
at least in the influence level, but
1:12:37
that's not what happened. Um he said
1:12:40
that Finland's NATO accession
1:12:43
was also a problem and there were no
1:12:45
territorial disputes with Finland and
1:12:48
Finn never. There just haven't been any
1:12:51
and that Finnish leaders knew this and
1:12:54
he implied the move was motivated by
1:12:56
opportunistic
1:12:58
forces rather than real defense. He said
1:13:01
Europe is now beginning to realize that
1:13:04
Russia is not just going to collapse and
1:13:06
that it might be better to seek a return
1:13:09
to normal relations and mutually
1:13:12
acceptable arrangements instead of
1:13:14
lopsided
1:13:15
pro-western ones. And he said that
1:13:18
Russia has always dealt with Europe on a
1:13:21
base of mutual respect and consideration
1:13:24
of its interests even if Europe did not
1:13:28
do the same. and his closing point was
1:13:31
that relations with many European
1:13:33
countries can eventually be restored and
1:13:36
that the sooner that happens, the better
1:13:38
it will be
1:13:40
um for both Russia and Europe. And he of
1:13:45
course finished the press conference by
1:13:49
wishing everyone a a happy victory day.
1:13:55
I saw a very uh interesting interview
1:14:01
um of a guy well I guess more of a
1:14:05
conversation well I suppose what else
1:14:07
would a good interview be but a good
1:14:09
conversation with a guy named Sergey
1:14:12
Karaganov
1:14:14
and he isn't just some
1:14:17
you know I don't know um blogger you
1:14:21
know he's a Russian foreign policy
1:14:24
intellectual and uh he's got deep Soviet
1:14:29
posts Soviet academic and and other
1:14:32
credentials and uh he isn't speaking as
1:14:36
an official Kremlin guy um and but he is
1:14:40
speaking from inside of Russia um in
1:14:45
their strategic intellectual
1:14:48
framework. you know, he he's an
1:14:51
important person and his argument help
1:14:54
explain why Moscow increasingly believes
1:15:00
that old western
1:15:03
um you know escalate but assume Russia
1:15:06
will just bend over and take it. You
1:15:09
know that model is gone. Um,
1:15:13
and you know, Alexander, I'm sorry,
1:15:17
Sergey Alexandrovich Karaganov is one of
1:15:20
Russia's most influential foreign policy
1:15:24
and security thinkers. Um, he's not
1:15:28
military field command. He's a strategic
1:15:31
analyst. Uh, foreign policy, security
1:15:34
doctrine, elite advisory work. Um the
1:15:39
university lists him as a graduate of
1:15:42
Moscow State University, Department of
1:15:45
Economics in 74, doctoral work at the
1:15:49
Institute of USA and Canada studies and
1:15:53
a research traininee
1:15:56
um
1:15:58
where he worked at the Soviet UN mission
1:16:01
in 76 and 77. He gave a 79 dissertation
1:16:06
on transnational corporations in US
1:16:10
foreign policy. He worked at uh at the
1:16:14
Institute of USA and Canadian Studies
1:16:17
about US and Soviet relationships, US
1:16:21
military strategy, arms control, and
1:16:24
European security. His uh resume is
1:16:29
institutionalheavy. And since ' 91 he's
1:16:32
been a member of the scientific advisory
1:16:34
council of the Russian Foreign Ministry
1:16:37
from 93 to 99. He served on the
1:16:40
presidential council of the Russian
1:16:42
Federation since 93. He's been on the
1:16:45
advisory committee of the Russian
1:16:47
security council from 2001 to 2013. He
1:16:52
was an adviser to the presidential
1:16:55
administration on foreign policy and uh
1:16:58
he's also uh been tied to the council on
1:17:01
foreign and defense policy since 92 and
1:17:04
he's a honorary chairman of the
1:17:07
precidium. Academically he helped build
1:17:10
the higher school of economic faculty of
1:17:13
world economy and international affairs
1:17:16
and uh he created and headed that
1:17:18
faculty for more than 15 years. So he's
1:17:22
kind of a powerhouse in there. Um he's
1:17:26
not the Kremlin, you know, he's more
1:17:29
intellectual think tank inside of
1:17:32
Russia. And he was asked about the
1:17:36
developments that had been nearly
1:17:38
unthinkable during the Cold War. NATO
1:17:41
countries assisting with missile attacks
1:17:44
on Russia and they they backed the Korsk
1:17:48
incursion
1:17:50
um assisted attacks on Russian nuclear
1:17:52
triad and early warning systems. And the
1:17:55
underlying question just isn't what's
1:17:58
happening in Ukraine, it's whether NATO
1:18:00
has crossed a red line um without
1:18:03
seriously even discussing Russian
1:18:06
security concerns. And Caraganov answers
1:18:09
pretty
1:18:11
severely.
1:18:13
He says Russia has procrastinated too
1:18:15
long, tolerated western aggression in
1:18:18
the hope that some negotiated solution
1:18:21
would be found. In his view, this hope
1:18:24
is absolutely exhausted. And he argues
1:18:27
that Russia must now escalate and punish
1:18:31
European enemies because they are
1:18:33
conducting allout war against Russia.
1:18:36
and he calls the conflict a world war.
1:18:39
Um you know either the third or the
1:18:41
fourth one and he says Ukraine is only
1:18:44
the opening theater. Now that
1:18:47
is a little bit frightening and the
1:18:49
deeper issue in his view is the
1:18:51
systematic
1:18:52
transformation
1:18:54
of the world order from western
1:18:57
dominance toward multipolarity.
1:19:00
Why does this matter? because Karaganov
1:19:03
isn't trying to move the discussion away
1:19:05
from Ukraine war and to toward world
1:19:09
system war. Um he's you know that's
1:19:13
matters because if Moscow accepts this
1:19:17
framing then the battle isn't limited to
1:19:20
Donbass, Crimea, Kharkov, Kursk. It's
1:19:23
Europe, it's Middle East, it's South
1:19:26
Asia, global finance, everything that
1:19:29
I've been talking about for a year and a
1:19:31
half. Um and and so in old-fashioned
1:19:35
terms,
1:19:37
once you uh define
1:19:40
a change system,
1:19:44
everything connected to it is waring.
1:19:47
And that's, you know,
1:19:50
pretty powerful, especially when Europe
1:19:53
is already saying that war is coming by
1:19:55
2030 anyway. And uh Caraganov says that
1:20:00
Russia has to win for two reasons. Um he
1:20:05
says uh
1:20:08
he says that Russia must win first to
1:20:12
stop the bloodletting in Ukraine which
1:20:15
he says as endless. Um and second he
1:20:19
says that Russia has to prevent
1:20:22
horizontal escalation which means the
1:20:25
spread of destabilization
1:20:27
beyond Ukraine into South Eurasia,
1:20:30
Middle East, North Africa and Southeast
1:20:33
Asia. He argues that the Iran issue
1:20:36
isn't really about Iranian nuclear
1:20:39
weapons, but about destabilizing
1:20:43
a vast region from the Maghreb toward
1:20:46
Southeast Asia.
1:20:48
Now that's frightening. And from
1:20:50
Caragano's point of view, Ukraine is an
1:20:52
intermediate battlefield, but the larger
1:20:55
war is over the future architecture of
1:20:58
Eurasia. And he sees America and Western
1:21:01
strategy as an effort to destabilize the
1:21:05
southern belt of Eurasia to preserve
1:21:10
Western dominance.
1:21:13
And why does this matter? uh because
1:21:16
he's not saying that Russia has to
1:21:18
defeat Ukraine. He says that Russia has
1:21:21
to prevent a larger western
1:21:24
destabilization project from spreading
1:21:26
across Eurasia. And whether you agree or
1:21:30
disagree, that's the architecture of the
1:21:32
argument. And by the way, that's a
1:21:34
common theme. I say the same thing. This
1:21:37
war, these these two, three wars,
1:21:40
they're all about one. They're they're
1:21:42
not about politics. These are about
1:21:46
uh resources.
1:21:49
It's all about I mean what has Trump
1:21:50
done? Trump has done he's he's all about
1:21:54
resources. You made no bones about it.
1:21:56
It's uh uh he wants to dominate the
1:21:59
Western Hemisphere. He wants to keep
1:22:01
dollar hegemony and uh he's pushing that
1:22:05
all the way over into Iran.
1:22:09
And if it wasn't for him
1:22:12
trying to dictate what Russia and China
1:22:14
will do,
1:22:17
I might not believe this, you know, and
1:22:20
if it wasn't for him being so
1:22:21
resourceheavy, it's possible that my
1:22:24
thoughts would would change in this
1:22:26
matter. But I continue to see it as as
1:22:30
vital. I I don't know if you remember
1:22:32
when I first said I was going to go over
1:22:34
to the to the BRICS conference and learn
1:22:38
about what was coming here. Well, BRICS
1:22:40
wasn't all about economics.
1:22:43
BRICS is about a changing world. And uh
1:22:47
uh I I believe these wars are about a
1:22:50
changing world too. and Kadaranov was
1:22:53
pretty
1:22:56
a pretty similar thought process on
1:22:58
these world wars aren't really about uh
1:23:02
politics. They're about um keeping the
1:23:06
same old, you know, hegemony that was
1:23:10
there before. One sizefits all and it's
1:23:14
western only, you know. Um
1:23:19
then he got into a little bit about uh
1:23:22
uh nuclear escalation.
1:23:25
Um
1:23:28
cuz Kataraganov had said something in
1:23:30
the interview about whether uh um
1:23:36
nuclear weapons should ever be used. And
1:23:38
what he said was that war has benefited
1:23:41
Russia socially and spiritually by
1:23:45
forcing the country to recover its soul
1:23:49
and its honor and value real metocracy
1:23:54
soldiers, doctors, scholars, officers.
1:23:58
But he says Russia is paying too high a
1:24:00
price in human lives. And his proposed
1:24:03
solution is to climb the escalation
1:24:06
ladder. conventional strikes on symbolic
1:24:10
or logistic points in Europe and then if
1:24:13
Europe doesn't back down nuclear strikes
1:24:16
and he says he's not calling for a
1:24:18
massive nuclear war and he says that
1:24:21
that he hopes it's not necessary but
1:24:24
this was
1:24:26
somewhat alarming but he says that
1:24:28
European elites have all lost their
1:24:30
minds and their sense of history and the
1:24:33
Russian nuclear doctrine should be
1:24:35
rewritten not only to deter attacks on
1:24:38
Russia, but to punish European elites,
1:24:44
including their hardened command
1:24:45
structures. And and uh Reuters reported
1:24:48
in 2024 that Caraganov was urging Russia
1:24:52
to adopt a more assertive nuclear
1:24:54
posture back then. I remember sharing
1:24:57
that with you. and that he viewed the
1:24:59
existing nuclear doctrine as inadequate
1:25:02
because it didn't convince adversaries
1:25:05
that Russia might actually use nuclear
1:25:08
weapons. Remember that this is Keraganov
1:25:12
believes deterrence has failed anyway
1:25:14
because the the West no longer fears
1:25:17
Russia enough. And his answer isn't
1:25:19
diplomacy first, it's fear first. In his
1:25:22
view, the purpose of nuclear escalation
1:25:26
isn't apocalypse, but compelling people
1:25:29
to do things, forcing Europe elites to
1:25:32
stop doing what they're doing. Um, so
1:25:35
Karaganov is arguing that nuclear
1:25:38
weapons are politically useless if the
1:25:41
enemy assumes you will never use them.
1:25:45
Now, everybody else argues that, you
1:25:47
know, well, it's not us that's ever used
1:25:49
them. It's only the United States. So if
1:25:52
anybody's crazy out there, it's the
1:25:54
Americans, right? But that's the not
1:25:57
what Cardanov says. He says, well, you
1:26:01
know, if we have to use them first,
1:26:02
well, maybe we have to. So he says that
1:26:06
his view is no longer the more minority
1:26:10
view, but the majority. He says that uh
1:26:15
um historic west is losing cultural,
1:26:19
political, economic predominance that
1:26:22
allowed it to dominate and exploit the
1:26:24
world for centuries. And he portrays the
1:26:28
present crisis as a western effort to
1:26:30
reverse that decline. And uh he's not
1:26:35
reassured by changes in US
1:26:37
administrations. He doesn't even see the
1:26:39
pre problem as Biden versus Trump,
1:26:43
Democrat verse Republican, anything like
1:26:45
that. Just same people,
1:26:49
uh you know, uh same same
1:26:53
platforms, different people basically.
1:26:56
And he says the spirit of Alaska has to
1:26:59
be dismissed as a joke. you know, he
1:27:04
talked a little bit about arms control,
1:27:06
but it doesn't look like I'm going to
1:27:09
have time to give that to you today. Um,
1:27:12
we'll have to
1:27:14
continue that theme tomorrow. Um, I'm
1:27:17
going to be traveling, so it's going to
1:27:19
be a uh uh, you know,
1:27:24
a possibility of doing it live and a
1:27:27
possibility of pre-recorded like this
1:27:30
one. Um, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you
1:27:32
join me every day on DAM Radio and
1:27:35
International Flavor here at
1:27:37
damradio.com/live
1:27:40
or at any time at
1:27:42
internationalflavor.com.
1:27:45
Thanks for being here this evening.