Russia to remain threat unless it transforms – First Deputy PM of Ichkeria government-in-exile

This view was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Alim-Pasha Soltykhanov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in exile.

“Until this Russia collapses, until it transforms into some other, modernized form where universal human values prevail – values that exist throughout the civilized world – no real changes should be expected,” Soltykhanov said.

In his view, under the current system it does not matter who is in power – whether it is Vladimir Putin or someone else.

He noted that history shows the Russian Empire developed through violence.

“Throughout all these periods, wars took place. The Russian Empire expanded and was built on blood, colonizing and enslaving other peoples. One day Putin will be gone. Of course, we want to hope that he is among the last of the barbarians who rule such a barbaric state,” Soltykhanov said.

When asked whether Russia’s aggression could end if Putin were no longer at the helm, the representative of the Ichkeria government-in-exile said that as long as Russia exists in its current form, “the threat from it will not disappear – it will only grow.”

“We hear how Russia’s propaganda machine, through the voices of Vladimir Solovyov, Alexander Dugin, and other so-called ideologues of today’s Russian ‘empire,’ openly claims that if they do not seize certain European states, America will supposedly come there – so they are ‘forced’ to occupy these territories,” Soltykhanov noted.

In his assessment, Russia will not stop with its war against Ukraine.

“There is constant escalation – toward Poland, the Baltic states, Moldova. Russia continues its aggressive foreign policy, and there are no signs that it will change its course,” Soltykhanov stated.

As previously reported, former Polish president Lech Wałęsa said in an interview with Ukrinform that Russia is not just Putin or Stalin, but a political system that must be changed; otherwise, after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia will attack someone again.