Andrey Illarionov: Russia’s attack against Poland and Baltic States inevitable

European countries are threatened by a “hybrid invasion” from Russia.

Such a statement has been made by Andrey Illarionov, a former Vladimir Putin’s advisor. In an interview to a Polish portal “Plus Minus”, he evaluates and explains the policy of Russia, wPolityce news source writes.

“It is inevitable that the Russian intervention will take place. The only question is, when exactly. Russia had never concealed that, as it had started to destabilize the situation in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, as well as in Latvia and Bulgaria, long ago. I believe that in the next two years a culminating point of these actions is going to happen. Let us remember that exactly the same time is left until the end of Obama’s term. Vladimir Putin realizes that this politician is the most ineffective US president in entire history. He knows that he should use the weakness of Barack Obama before the next presidential election in the US as soon as possible,” the expert said.

Andrey Illarionov is convinced that if a more serious and powerful politician were in the White House, it would not be so easy for Vladimir Putin to pursue his aggressive policy.

“Aggression against Poland and the Baltic States could happen in different ways. We should remember that Vladimir Putin is not a commander of ground forces, but a colonel of special services. I believe that most likely we should expect a hybrid war, not a military incursion. Subversion groups trying to destabilize the situation in the abovementioned countries could emerge,” he believes.

According to the former advisor of the Russian president, the Western world could have blocked imperial aspirations of Moscow easily. But a political will and consistent policy are needed for that.

“As for the military forces, the NATO countries could have deployed considerable military forces and the newest weapons on the borders of Russia. Besides, Russia would feel the sanctions if currency assets on the accounts of the Russian national reserve system or on European accounts of the Russian Central Bank were frozen. These are sums of about 500 – 600 bn dollars, and faced by such a threat, Moscow would have returned its soldiers from Ukraine immediately,” Andrey Illarionov said.