Rossiyskaya Gazeta Interviews Patrushev

We haven’t heard from Nikolai for awhile, and not since his new job within Team Putin. The interview was conducted on July 25th.

In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev, who oversees national maritime policy, spoke about the threats of NATO expansion in the Black Sea and Kiev's attempts to return to the Sea of Azov, as well as about the upcoming elections in the United States and the new image of the Russian Navy.

Mykola Platonovich, who calls himself President Zelensky, approved a new maritime security strategy for Ukraine, which determines the presence of NATO forces in the Black Sea and the conduct of joint exercises and missions in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Can you comment on this?

Nikolai Patrushev: As you said, Zelensky, who calls himself president, by signing such documents, is once again trying to convince the people of Ukraine and the world community of the legitimacy of the Kiev neo-Nazi government. In the adopted strategy, he set out statements that do not correspond to the existing realities. What kind of missions and exercises of the Ukrainian Navy in the Sea of Azov can we talk about, if at present the Sea of Azov is an internal sea of the Russian Federation, which means that Ukraine has both de facto and legally lost access to the Azov water area. At the same time, NATO's plans to place a naval base in the Sea of Azov and to carry out military adventures using the fleet were thwarted. In an effort to ensure the presence of its ships in the ports of the Sea of Azov, NATO tried to compensate for the failure of plans ten years ago, which involved the creation of an alliance naval base in Sevastopol and the transformation of the Crimean peninsula into a permanent location for American and allied troops.

I note that at the so-called "peace conference" held in Switzerland, a call was made for free international navigation in the Sea of Azov.

Nikolai Patrushev: Given the aggressive nature of Western countries that directly support the Kiev regime in conducting military and terrorist operations against Russia, there can be no question of any unhindered passage of their ships to the Azov ports at present.

By the way, in Switzerland, only in 1936 in Montreux, an international conference was held, at which the Convention was adopted, which for many years determined the regime for the presence of non-Black Sea states in the Black Sea.

Nikolai Patrushev: Kiev prefers not to remember this document. Washington simply prohibits him from doing so. Pursuing the goal of large-scale militarization of the Black Sea, the United States has long questioned the Montreux Convention, which regulates the passage of ships through the straits. NATO members are not satisfied with the fact that this time-tested document gives a preferential position to the ships of the Black Sea states in comparison with others. It should be noted that in the 90s of the last century, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, without waiting for the expansion of NATO, the United States began the systematic development of the Black Sea with warships of the main types and support vessels. Under the restrictions imposed by the Convention on the length of stay, tonnage and certain classes of ships, this activity of the US Navy took several years. Characteristically, one of the first to be sent to the Black Sea was the newest at that time American rescue ship, the Grapple, designed, among other things, to train submariners and assist submarines in distress. At the same time, it is interesting that this agreement prohibits submarines of non-Black Sea states from entering the Black Sea. And now this ship regularly visits the region. Recently, he conducted exercises in the territorial waters of Georgia.

USNS TAR-S 53

For some reason, NATO countries began to consider the Black Sea "theirs", using, for example, the territory of Romania and Bulgaria to place supply bases and direct strikes on Crimea by the hands of the Kiev regime.

Nikolai Patrushev: By declaring at the last NATO summit a course to maintain freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, the ardent anti-Russian bloc actually demonstrated its ambitious plans to build up its military presence in this region and intensify confrontation. In the countries of the Black Sea basin, the United States intends to create logistics centers to accelerate the supply of weapons to Ukraine, as well as to deploy modern long-range weapons. Under the guise of ensuring security in the Black Sea, the alliance has already flooded it with weapons that pose a danger to both Russia and the countries of the region. Indiscriminate mining of the coastal area by the Western-controlled Ukrainian Navy leads to the spontaneous drift of sea mines, which increasingly threatens civilian ships. Unpredictable danger to shipping and coastal infrastructure is also posed by unmanned boats losing course due to a failure of GPS navigation.

In general, the impression of the NATO summit in Washington remained contradictory. Stoltenberg, summing up the event, said that the alliance will remain a regional structure. At the same time, at the summit, much attention was paid to strengthening influence in the Asia-Pacific region and aggressive statements against Russia and China were already habitually sounded. Who to believe?

Nikolai Patrushev: Lying is a long-standing basic principle of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its leaders - Washington and London, so the alliance cannot be trusted.

In an effort to dull the attention of the USSR, and then Russia, in different historical periods, NATO in the 80s and 90s promised the head of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand to the east, tried to be friends with Boris Yeltsin, and in the 2000s talked about the possibility of Russia joining his ranks, and so on. And now NATO openly calls Russia the main threat. Designating itself as a regional structure interested in stability in the North Atlantic region, in reality it is constantly expanding, and now its attention is attracted by the Asia-Pacific region. Here, the alliance has appointed Japan, which has long been controlled by Washington, including with the help of deployed American military bases, as its main support. Since the beginning of 2024, the number of bilateral exercises of the Japanese naval forces with the fleets of NATO countries and other US military allies has been 30 times higher than the number of training maneuvers in the same period last year.

But they are not only actively dragging Japan into their arms, are they?

Nikolai Patrushev: It is impossible not to pay attention to the plans to further strengthen the so-called "Indo-Pacific Four" (IP4), which includes Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The NATO leadership has stated that the activities of the "quartet" will allegedly be non-military in maritime and cyberspace. In fact, the US Department of Defense is interested in joint production of weapons with these countries, as well as maintenance of NATO ships and aircraft. Washington's plans remain to support existing military mini-alliances and create new ones under its control. For example, the military partnership with England and Australia, AUKUS, which is aimed primarily at creating an Australian nuclear submarine fleet. The organization is progressively pursuing a policy of containing Russia and China, including within the framework of the US naval strategy called "Advantage at Sea". It implies the increased integration of the US Navy with the military fleet of its satellites for the use of force, primarily against Russian and Chinese ships.

Russia and many other countries interested in global stability have repeatedly drawn the attention of the leaders of NATO countries to the inadmissibility and disastrous nature of a policy that leads to confrontation and the incitement of new wars and military conflicts. But most Western politicians spit in the eyes, and say that this is God's dew.

Maybe there will be changes in the foreign policy of the West after the presidential elections in America? Biden withdrew from the presidential race, which means that a more peace-loving politician may come to the White House. Who, in your opinion, can take the chair of the head of the United States? Kamala Harris, Donald Trump or someone else? Or does the change in the places of the American components not change the amount for us in any case?

Nikolai Patrushev: We see changes in the election process in the United States. It is important for us that it is Washington that has a decisive influence on the behavior of the Ukrainian regime. How the United States will continue to influence the regime is also of serious importance. The U.S. presidential election is an internal affair of the United States. American voters will decide for themselves who, in their opinion, is a worthy figure to govern their country. Russia does not interfere in the internal political life of other states. Unlike Washington, for example, which considers interference in the internal affairs of other countries as a habitual element of its foreign policy.

At the same time, the United States and its allies hide behind slogans about promoting democracy and some kind of "rules-based world order."

Nikolai Patrushev: Western politicians repeat the word "democracy", ignoring its lexical meaning. It has transformed to such an extent that, under the flag of democracy, NATO countries provoke destructive military conflicts around the world, show their openly aggressive nature, calling themselves a defensive organization. By continuing to boldly increase the number of naval bases outside their territories, Allies seek to limit the national interests of sovereign states and to turn the world's oceans into their sphere of control and influence.

Western leaders, hiding behind the screen of democracy, are in reality pursuing a fascist policy. Monuments to the victors of fascism are being demolished, history is being falsified, Nazi criminals are being whitewashed, and the Nazi Gunko is being applauded in the Canadian Parliament. They do not allow opinions other than those approved in Washington and Brussels, criticizing, for example, the peace mission of Hungary, which holds the presidency of the European Union. Today, Western "democrats", seeking the strategic defeat of Russia, are increasing financial and technical assistance to the Kiev neo-Nazi regime. In fact, they are trying to do what Hitler's fascism, which was nurtured in the 30s of the last century with the funds of large Anglo-Saxon corporations, which, by the way, still exist today, failed. Playing with fire, they ignore the historical facts of the imminent failure of attempts at aggression against Russia.

In this regard, the tough position of Vladimir Putin, which he voiced at a meeting held in June on the development of shipbuilding to ensure the defense and security of the state, is completely understandable. As far as I understand, it was not only about problems and threats to the Russian fleet, but also about specific ways to solve them?

Nikolai Patrushev: In fact, the next stage in the development of the Navy is coming. The state needs to ensure the quality of our fleet that will allow us to outstrip the technical capabilities of other maritime countries.

Russia, being a great maritime power, should have a powerful navy, which will include ships designed to perform tasks in the near and far sea zones and ocean areas, and have a developed basing and support system.

Following the meeting, the President set large-scale tasks for the industry to organize the serial construction of ships. At the same time, emphasis is placed on ensuring timely financing of shipbuilding. The Head of State outlined the directions for the creation of promising systems and models of weapons, military and special equipment, including marine robotic systems and technologies that counteract unmanned vessels. Some of the president's instructions relate to strengthening the human resources potential of the industry, including by revising the level of remuneration of basic production workers, engineering and other categories of workers. Particular attention is paid to Russian science, from which the state expects innovative ways to improve the fleet, increase research and development work in the interests of the Navy. It is important to achieve technological independence in the production of ship equipment and electronic components.

This is in the long run. And what awaits military sailors in the near future, for example, this year?

Nikolai Patrushev: High-tech shipbuilding production facilities are actively developing throughout the country, shipyards are receiving new government orders. By the end of this year, the navy will be additionally equipped with modern weapons and new ships.

This coming Sunday, Russia will celebrate Navy Day. What would you wish to military sailors?

Nikolai Patrushev: First of all, I would like to emphasize that in the life of our state, Navy Day is considered one of the most significant holidays. The support of the country's defense capability, its freedom and sovereignty is the power of the navy, professionalism, heroism and courage of all those who stand guard over the sea borders. From the bottom of my heart, I wish the military sailors and employees of the enterprises on whom the combat readiness of the Russian fleet depends, health, prosperity and new achievements for the glory of our Motherland! [Bolded Italics my emphasis]

Empire of Lies. The USN says the Grapple was decommissioned in 2006, but I take Patrushev’s word that it’s operating in the Blak Sea over anything mentioned by the Pentagon. I would think it’s there to attack Russia’s gas pipelines to Turkey, which Russia tasks Black Sea Fleet members to defend. The upgrading of Russia’s missile carriers to use the naval versions of Russia’s hypersonic missiles is well underway and will eventually include the small Caspian Sea boats that currently carry and use Kaliber missiles. The biggest obstacle that was recently overcome was Russia’s ability to produce outstanding marine engines from close to 100% domestic parts. Of course, Russia’s ship builders make more than just military vessels. Upgrading Russia’s fishing fleet was also recently discussed as well as Russia’s continual expansion of its ice breaker fleet for use on the Northen Sea Route. There are also some collaborative efforts being made with China on ice-class carriers of all sorts—bulk, LNG, oil, and container. Oddly, the lower the number the thicker the ice it can navigate through. Russia has its own classification system. The industry Patushev is tasked with overseeing is as vast as Russia as this Wiki report shows. The Gym’s archive has one article on the topic, “Banking, Shipbuilding & Russia's Economy.”

Given what we know of “Zelensky”’s status within Ukraine’s Constitution, all documents he signs are illegitimate; but I doubt the rules-based order has no issues with the basic violation of contract law. And of course, that status impacts any negotiations that might occur as Russia has very critically defined “Zelensky”’s genuine legal position, since adherence to law is actually important to Russia. Importantly, Zelensky has no authority to undo his order to prohibit negotiating with Russia or to conduct negotiations as he’s not empowered to do any such thing under current Ukranian law. It appears NATO will need to manufacture a new figurehead for its Ukrainian tool just to negotiate, and that looks like it will prove to be a big dilemma.

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