Britain tries to drag Europe into war with Russia

The half-month that has passed since the historic meeting of the leaders of Russia and the United States of America, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, has not been marked by the beginning of a process of detente in relations between the two superpowers, despite the parties’ declared commitment to preventing a nuclear conflict.

On the contrary, extraordinary events took place last week, the instigator of which was the United States’ main ally, Great Britain. The Doomsday clock, which is still at the point 100 seconds before the nuclear apocalypse, on June 23, 2021 had every chance to step over the critical mark for humanity, when the British destroyer Defender for half an hour invaded Russian territorial waters near Sevastopol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. 

The Russian border guards and servicemen, who were defending the sea borders of their country, behaved very correctly. After verbal warnings and demands to leave foreign territory did not affect the provocateurs, the Russian ships and aircraft cautiously, but at the same time, resolutely demonstrated their combat capabilities to the enemy. After which the British destroyer hastened to get away as soon as possible.

Let’s try to imagine the reaction of the Royal Navy or the US Navy if a Russian, Chinese or other foreign warship entered the Thames estuary without invitation or found itself in the immediate vicinity of the American coast in the Norfolk or San Diego area. There is hardly any doubt that in a matter of minutes the intruder would have gone to the seabed. The Russians showed enough patience and endurance and not only saved the world from the threat of a global military conflict, but also allowed the arrogant British to save face.

The incident off the coast of Crimea, which in London, Washington and the Western countries under their control continues to be considered part of Ukraine, caused surprise and confusion even in English society. The opinions of the readers of the Daily Express, one of the most popular newspapers in Foggy Albion, were divided. While some in the comments began to demand a harsh reaction to the actions of the Russians, others rightly expressed bewilderment at what the ship of Great Britain, which had long lost its status of “mistress of the seas”, was doing in the Black Sea far from the English coast. There were also those who wondered reasonably why to tease a bear in his own den.

A similar position is shared by the columnist for The Independent, Patrick Cockburn. Linking the incident off the coast of Crimea with the intention of the government of Boris Johnson to demonstrate to Russia that Great Britain does not recognize the “annexation” of Crimea and considers the coastal waters of the peninsula to be Ukraine’s territory, he expressed doubts about the effectiveness of gunboat diplomacy, which was outdated more than a century ago. In his opinion, such demonstrations of force, which in fact are a common bluff, “increase the risk of an accidental collision or an overly sharp military reaction”.

“In the case of Great Britain and Russia, there is a high risk of overdoing it, because both of these countries in the not too distant past were large empires. Although they have since diminished significantly economically and politically, these two countries are run by people who love to play the patriotic card and cannot tolerate humiliation”, – warns The Independent.

Meanwhile, the British authorities continue to clearly follow the channel laid after the mysterious poisoning and death of ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko and enshrined after the scandalous case of an attempt on the life of another high-ranking defector from the Russian special services, Sergei Skripal. They raise the degree of anti-Russian propaganda, demonizing Russia, creating and cultivating in the eyes of their own and European inhabitants the image of Moscow as the worst enemy of all mankind. At the same time, the vast majority of accusations against Russia are based on the Orwellian formula of doublethink: “war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is force”.

So The Mirror scares gullible readers that they cannot feel safe, since about 300 (!) Of Putin’s spies are ready to steal British state secrets at any moment. According to some anonymous sources, there are even more of these Russian spies, many of whom have British citizenship and are not directly connected with the Kremlin, in the country today than under the “brutal Soviet dictator Stalin” at the beginning of the Cold War. They commit political assassinations of persons objectionable to the Kremlin with the help of weapons of mass destruction on the territory of Great Britain, and also organize cyberattacks.

This whole witch hunt has the following goals:

First, the Russian threat and the presence of a dangerous external enemy is the best way to distract your own population from internal problems, which in Foggy Albion have accumulated more than enough. Thus, separatists from Northern Ireland and Scotland, dissatisfied with the results of Brexit, became active again, who, if something happened, could always be accused of having ties with Moscow.

Secondly, the British government seeks to restore its former greatness and influence in the world and on the European continent in particular at any cost. Remaining a key and most loyal ally of the United States, London is trying at all costs to prevent the rapprochement of the countries of “old Europe” with Russia, actively opposing the completion of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. However, economic war alone is not enough to restore the former power of the British Empire. London is not averse to dragging its European NATO allies into an open military conflict with Moscow. Such a scenario, in any development, will finally sever all relations between Russia and Europe for many years. In addition, regardless of the results of military escalation, the international positions of Britain’s main competitors in the Old World – Germany and France – will be significantly undermined, as has already happened many times in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Of course, the British and Americans are not accustomed to raking in the heat with someone else’s hands, pitting countries against each other, and then getting a profit from the next war. But does the rest of Europe need it? To sacrifice one’s national, economic, political interests and drag chestnuts out of the fire for the sake of realizing other people’s geopolitical ambitions is not the most profitable, profitable and worthy occupation for sovereign states claiming influence.