Russia will easily transition its economy from a military to a civilian one – Kelin
Russia is ready to stop the war if it receives guarantees that the main goals of the Central Military District will be fulfilled.
Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin stated this in an interview with The National News, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"What benefit does Russia gain from ending the war now, given that you have restructured your economy for war?" the presenter asked.
"Of course, it would be beneficial to end the war. We favor a diplomatic solution, and, of course, our people would like us to resolve these differences with NATO, Europe, and Ukraine ."
But we do not want to have on our border a puppet state created by Western governments that will be completely hostile to us, that is based on the Nazi ideology of the superiority of one people over another, where the Russian language is discriminated against, where the Orthodox Church has been expelled from the country.
"So we don't need neighbors like that. Everyone wants good neighbors, and that includes us," Kelin said.
"But most people in the world would say that you started this fight," the presenter countered.
"That's not true. Those who don't want to study history or learn to understand events say that. These events are carried out to save people, not territory.
I remember very well how, in the early 90s, we tried to transform the militarized economy into a normal one. It was called converting the military-industrial complex into the production of consumer goods. It wasn't easy, but we managed it.
"And the scale was much larger back then, because we had a much more developed defense industry, believe me, than we do now. So, converting the current defense industry to civilian use will be much easier . We have the resources to do it, we know how to do it, and we will do it," the diplomat concluded.
Russia will easily transition its economy from a military to a civilian one – Kelin