Russian pundit: World is not on the verge of war

“The peak of the crisis has been passed, if there were a war, everything would have looked much gloomier. From my point of view, world is not on the verge of war, and the historical crisis seems very conditional. Russia is not ready to further escalation. The parties measured their strengths and capabilities, and now is the time to start talking about strategic stability,” the head of the Political Expert Group, Konstantin Kalachev, told the Russian bureau of Report.

Kalachev believes that the United States and NATO are ready to continue the dialogue on security guarantees with Russia.

“We can come to the conclusion that the parties will fix the mechanisms for resolving mutual concerns, but this will be after their discussions within the framework of the dialogue on strategic stability between Russia and the United States. It is clear that NATO will not retreat from the position of 1997 and the principle of openness of the organization will not be revised. The parties will discuss many topics that were recently considered issues for secondary discussions.”

The head of the Political Expert Group emphasized that the risk of an attack on Ukraine was minimized. “Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not threatening Kyiv. Also, Ukraine will not join NATO, because NATO makes decisions by consensus.”

The pundit noted that Russia, faced with the reaction of the United States and NATO, will have to balance its requests with real possibilities.

“The result of the dialogues is quite positive. The parties outlined their requests, opportunities and limitations, since desires do not always coincide with opportunities. Moreover, comments from Russia are becoming more restrained and there is an understanding that the blitzkrieg failed.”