Vershbow laments that Russia is successfully dividing the West
The lack of unity between the United States and the European Union plays into Moscow's hands.
Former Deputy Secretary General of NATO and ex-US Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow stated this in an interview with the Kyiv online publication “Apostrophe”.
“Russia will continue to seek opportunities to use its influence in the Middle East and North Africa. And I worry that the lack of unity between the United States and Europe, their internal challenges, will give Russia many opportunities to use this in a long-term confrontation with the West. That is, Russia, which is trying to expand its influence, may have more opportunities to exploit these differences,” Vershbow fears.
According to him, “The West still has a lot to do to reduce its vulnerability to Russian efforts at destabilization and disinformation.” The diplomat also believes that non-military threats from Russia should be given even more attention than direct military ones.
In addition, the publication’s interlocutor believes that Western sanctions have affected the Russian economy, but not as critically as if there had been additional measures from the United States and the EU.
“However, the Russian economy is stagnating and is still heavily dependent on energy prices. Therefore, Russia is vulnerable. But, alas, she manages to quite successfully divide the West, and it is not easy to achieve political consensus on new sanctions against Russia,” regrets the former deputy chairman of NATO Secretary General.
He believes that vulnerabilities that the West can exploit to influence the course of Russian policy are possible.
“But, unfortunately, the economic decline is not significant enough to necessarily bring any changes in 2019. The most likely scenario is a continuation of the confrontation and Russia testing the West and our insistence on respect for the rule of law,” Vershbow concludes.
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