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[00:00:00] A disgusting guy who swears Sky News [00:00:03] analyst on the head of Russia's [00:00:04] delegation in Geneva and whether China [00:00:07] is really prepared to claim Russian [00:00:09] territories up to by Carl. We will talk [00:00:12] about this with political analyst [00:00:13] European leadership network UK member [00:00:16] Alexander Filipena. Alexandra, glad to [00:00:18] see you and thank you for joining us. [00:00:20] >> Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be [00:00:22] here. Alexandra, the Russian delegation [00:00:25] at the Geneva talks was led by [00:00:27] presidential aid Madinski, who [00:00:30] previously used um statements about [00:00:33] history as a pretext for Russia's [00:00:35] invasion of Ukraine. According to Sky [00:00:38] News analyst Michael Clark, Russia's [00:00:41] decision to return Medinsky to the [00:00:43] delegation signals that Putin does not [00:00:46] want to achieve anything in today's [00:00:48] peace negotiations. Uh Clark described [00:00:51] Medinsky as a disgusting guy with a [00:00:54] crazy view of Russian history who enjoys [00:00:57] lecturing everyone on the subject. What [00:00:59] objectives does Russia pursue by sending [00:01:02] Vlim Madinski to lead its delegation? [00:01:05] How do Madinski's historical arguments [00:01:09] um influence Russia's negotiating [00:01:11] position? [00:01:13] Well, I totally agree with you uh [00:01:16] laughing or or smirking at arguments. [00:01:18] That is quote unquote arguments. That is [00:01:20] something absolutely far from reality [00:01:24] because we know that Vladimir Madinsky [00:01:26] is the representative of that branch of [00:01:28] Russian government. Unfortunately, I [00:01:31] might say government and the Kremlin. Uh [00:01:34] they that are trying to rewrite history, [00:01:38] totally rewrite history. Uh, of course [00:01:41] we understand that uh, as we all know [00:01:44] the history is written by the winners [00:01:46] and right now we see that the Kremlin [00:01:50] and the part of people part of those [00:01:53] surrounding Putin are trying to rewrite [00:01:56] history while they are not winners. They [00:01:59] are winners as they seize themselves on [00:02:02] the Russian territory as of now and they [00:02:05] are rushing to rewrite it as fast as [00:02:07] possible while they are in power. Uh [00:02:10] because yes, as Mark Rut, the secretary [00:02:13] general of NATO said that uh this is [00:02:17] previously he talked about Medinsky and [00:02:19] when Madinsky already headed the [00:02:21] negotiating team on the Russian side [00:02:24] that Mark Rut said that Medinski is some [00:02:27] kind of a historian that constantly [00:02:30] starts talking about the 12th century [00:02:32] and you cannot understand anything. And [00:02:35] this what Kremlin this is what Kremlin [00:02:37] wants for nobody to understand anything [00:02:40] to drag their feet. This is exactly the [00:02:44] goal of Putin. This is exactly the goal [00:02:47] of the Kremlin because what we [00:02:50] understand for President Trump, it is [00:02:52] important as we discussed previously and [00:02:54] and it for everyone it's understandable [00:02:57] that it would be important for President [00:03:00] Trump to actually achieve something in [00:03:03] Ukraine to actually achieve something [00:03:06] better prior to summer, better in the [00:03:08] summertime because this way he could [00:03:10] talk about Republicans stopping the war [00:03:13] in Europe, putting an end to the war in [00:03:16] Europe while the Democrats started the [00:03:18] war in well not started the war but they [00:03:20] were um witness to war starting in 2014 [00:03:25] and then the full-scale invasion of 22 [00:03:28] and these were always the Democrats that [00:03:30] are to blame while the Republicans can [00:03:33] only stop wars they stop wars that they [00:03:36] were not witness to the start of so for [00:03:39] President Trump it would have been [00:03:40] wonderful because his rating and the [00:03:43] Republicans ratings are not that good [00:03:46] prior to the election and of course [00:03:48] we're talking about the midterm [00:03:50] elections in November. So we what we've [00:03:53] seen previously when ceasefire when when [00:03:57] there when the ceasefire was achieved in [00:03:59] the Middle East, President Trump's [00:04:01] rating went up, Republicans ratings went [00:04:05] up, everything became a little better. [00:04:07] And especially now when we see when [00:04:10] Politico published the ratings of [00:04:13] President Zalinski that are so high the [00:04:16] highest among all world leaders. [00:04:19] President Zalinski is well known among [00:04:22] the Americans uh way more than for [00:04:25] example Mertz or Mcronone or any other [00:04:29] European leader. President Zilinski is [00:04:31] very well known and he has a great [00:04:34] positive rating close to 70% of positive [00:04:37] rating. At the same time, Putin is also [00:04:40] well known but he has negative 70 rating [00:04:45] more than 70 negative uh%. So, we [00:04:48] understand that for Trump and for the [00:04:50] Republicans in general, that would be a [00:04:53] good win. Uh because Ukraine, Ukraine's [00:04:56] war is seen by the Americans in a very [00:04:59] straightforward way, unlike Israel. [00:05:02] Because with Israel, of course, there [00:05:04] are many issues, especially that [00:05:06] Democrats have and that many Americans [00:05:08] have. They have questions and problems [00:05:11] with the way the war was waged. But this [00:05:14] is the whole other issue for Ukraine. [00:05:17] Americans don't have any questions. They [00:05:19] they understand they they see the [00:05:21] aggressor Russia and the the country [00:05:24] that was attacked Ukraine. So on the [00:05:27] backdrop of those ratings of Perez Dan [00:05:30] Zalinski of Ukraine, of course [00:05:32] Republicans ratings would have gone up [00:05:36] if if there was at least ceasefire. [00:05:39] Maybe not a peace deal, but ceasefire. [00:05:41] That would already been wonderful for [00:05:43] the Republicans. But Putin also [00:05:47] understands that. He also knows that. [00:05:49] And uh if President Trump can achieve [00:05:52] something, he would talk about it. He [00:05:54] would push he would really he might [00:05:56] really push Russia. He might really do [00:05:58] something about Russia. But there's a [00:06:01] big big big issue with one thing. If [00:06:06] there is absolutely no chance, [00:06:08] absolutely no chance. And with Matinsky, [00:06:11] we understand this is a signal of not [00:06:12] having any chance. So if there's no [00:06:15] chance to actually achieve something, [00:06:17] would President Trump talk about it? No. [00:06:21] He would not talk about it. He will try [00:06:23] not to. He will try not to forget about [00:06:25] Ukraine, but better not talk about it [00:06:28] prior to the election. Maybe talk about [00:06:31] after the election, but better put it [00:06:34] away away to the furthest corner of [00:06:37] American Americans dis American [00:06:40] discussions prior to the election [00:06:42] because this would mean that President [00:06:45] Zilinski Ukraine that have very good [00:06:48] ratings in uh among the American voters, [00:06:52] they would not be forgotten of course, [00:06:54] but President Trump would rather not [00:06:56] talk about it. So Putin that always [00:06:59] pretends that he's ready to negotiate. [00:07:01] He's showing that it's going nowhere. [00:07:04] It's actually going nowhere. They will [00:07:06] continue pretending that there is a [00:07:08] negotiation, but it's a signal that no, [00:07:12] you won't achieve anything. We already [00:07:14] saw how Madinsky negotiates. Madinsky [00:07:17] negotiated, please correct me if I'm [00:07:19] wrong, in 22 also in this first days of [00:07:23] the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. they [00:07:25] he is the one uh put being put forward [00:07:29] by the Kremlin when they need to drag [00:07:32] their feet and this is exactly what [00:07:34] they're doing. So they are basically [00:07:37] telling Trump you will not achieve [00:07:39] anything. Uh so please just don't talk [00:07:41] about it. Let's get back to this issue [00:07:44] maybe later but let's not talk about it. [00:07:46] At the same time they are sending [00:07:49] Terrell Ditriv to talk about business [00:07:51] and to interest Trump in business. This [00:07:53] is the second thing. But of course, when [00:07:56] we see Medinski, we must understand that [00:07:59] the it's it's a no-go. Nothing will uh [00:08:02] change. Especially because he's not a [00:08:05] military man. He is merely uh well uh [00:08:10] not a psychological uh let's say um base [00:08:15] for uh this Russian invasion, but he is [00:08:17] a philosophical in a way base for this [00:08:20] Russian invasion. He doesn't actually [00:08:23] decide anything. It's not a military [00:08:26] person. It's not a person that is by [00:08:29] Putin when he makes decisions. So, it's [00:08:32] just a way for Kremlin to drag their [00:08:34] feet and send a signal that nothing will [00:08:37] be achieved. [00:08:38] >> Alexander, yes, President Donald Trump [00:08:40] has said ahead of trilateral um talks in [00:08:44] Geneva that Ukraine better come to the [00:08:48] table fast. Uh given that Ukraine is [00:08:51] already participating in the Geneva [00:08:54] talks, what does President Trump mean by [00:08:56] saying Ukraine should come to [00:08:58] [clears throat] the table first? [00:09:00] Well, this is all of course uh also as [00:09:04] um President Trump is talking as mostly [00:09:07] always he's talking to the American [00:09:09] audience because again coming back to [00:09:11] those ratings those there was a joke [00:09:14] especially in uh 24 prior to the [00:09:17] American presidential election that uh [00:09:20] there is one person who should be [00:09:21] actually um going to the American [00:09:25] election and that's Mr. Zilinski because [00:09:27] he's so popular among the Americans that [00:09:29] he's the one that should be but it it's [00:09:31] of course it's a joke because he wasn't [00:09:33] born in the US etc etc of course it's a [00:09:35] joke it's only a joke but with that joke [00:09:39] in mind uh of course in 23 24 we were [00:09:44] talking about President Zilinsk's [00:09:45] ratings up more than 80% among the [00:09:48] Americans now we're talking about 60 but [00:09:51] still with President Trump having his [00:09:54] ratings around 36 40% and the Gallup [00:09:59] pole by the way the main the major the [00:10:02] most popular and the most important [00:10:05] American uh sociological center stops [00:10:09] decided to stop or to at least postpone [00:10:12] for some years as they say they will not [00:10:15] um measure the ratings of a a president [00:10:19] of any president in power uh every month [00:10:22] as they did for more than 80 years. So, [00:10:26] uh right now with of course many other [00:10:28] outlets and many other um sociological [00:10:31] centers, they measure the ratings of the [00:10:33] president, but we know from the Gallup [00:10:35] poll that uh president's ratings um [00:10:38] President Trump's ratings are around 36 [00:10:41] 40%, they are very low. And with the [00:10:44] Democrats, the same thing goes for the [00:10:46] Democrats and with President Zilinski's [00:10:49] ratings being so high among the [00:10:50] Americans. For Trump, it's important to [00:10:53] say that it's the Ukrainians that are to [00:10:57] blame that there is not a ceasefire. [00:10:59] It's the Ukrainians as he already said [00:11:01] that President Zilinski is the one who [00:11:03] is standing um behind not having an [00:11:07] agreement. He is not we we there is no [00:11:10] agreement. There is no ceasefire because [00:11:11] of Zilinski. That's ridiculous because [00:11:14] we all know that President Silinski is [00:11:15] the one who always said of course even [00:11:18] without any pretext let's have ceasefire [00:11:21] right now this second he is ready if it [00:11:24] can be signed it can be signed [00:11:26] immediately but for President Trump this [00:11:29] is a signal only for the Americans [00:11:32] because those Americans who on the one [00:11:34] hand they know what is happening in [00:11:35] Ukraine they know who is President [00:11:37] Zilinski they know that Russia attacked [00:11:40] Ukraine and it's not the first time that [00:11:41] Russia attacked Ukraine or other [00:11:43] neighbors. And of course, I'm talking [00:11:45] about Georgia in August 2008. So for [00:11:48] those Americans, maybe they don't follow [00:11:51] Geneva so much. They don't follow the [00:11:54] negotiation and they hear, "Oh, [00:11:56] Ukrainians must come to the table." So [00:11:58] that means Ukrainians are not at the [00:12:00] table probably and they might just might [00:12:05] not look at the news and just hear the [00:12:08] president say that and have a worse uh [00:12:12] let's say uh idea or a worse um [00:12:15] understanding of what is actually [00:12:17] happening and a worse view of the [00:12:21] Ukrainian delegation. So it's only and [00:12:24] solely for the American public, for the [00:12:26] American people, for them because they [00:12:29] um really like, let's say, let's put it [00:12:32] this way, they really like President [00:12:34] Zilinski and they want President [00:12:36] Zilinski to be successful and they don't [00:12:38] want President Trump to cater to Putin [00:12:41] and they don't like how President Trump [00:12:44] um communicates with Putin. So this is [00:12:48] only for them uh in the hope that they [00:12:51] won't actually look at the news and [00:12:53] won't actually learn what is really [00:12:56] happening. [00:12:58] >> One of the leaders of um the Russian um [00:13:01] opposition, Gary Kasparov, discussed [00:13:04] that any attempt to reach an agreement [00:13:06] to end the war in Ukraine without [00:13:09] addressing its root cause is doomed to [00:13:12] fail. He said Ukraine may agree to some [00:13:15] compromise but it is absolutely clear [00:13:17] that the war cannot end while Putin [00:13:20] remains in power. Everything else is [00:13:22] just for Putin is the war. Putin's [00:13:25] Russia is a military camp. This does not [00:13:28] mean that Russia would necessarily end [00:13:31] the war without Putin. But under Putin [00:13:33] it certainly will not. Can Bosch's [00:13:37] internal elites um influence a reduction [00:13:40] of military activity under Putin? And [00:13:42] what do you think about this? [00:13:45] >> Well, I would only agree with Mr. [00:13:48] Kasparov of course and I must say that [00:13:51] previously we haven't heard uh European [00:13:55] elites and especially the NATO elites [00:13:58] and the people in the NATO in especially [00:14:00] in the NATO headquarters being so open [00:14:04] and so precise about their view of uh [00:14:08] Putin and his um ideas regarding the [00:14:12] war. Last week uh in Brussels uh I was [00:14:15] at the NATO headquarters uh during the [00:14:19] meeting of uh ministers of defense and [00:14:22] uh I managed to talk to a lot of people [00:14:25] uh in NATO headquarters and everyone [00:14:28] absolutely everyone from NATO officials [00:14:31] to just people for two different sources [00:14:34] that I managed to talk to nobody told me [00:14:38] that they think that Putin is serious [00:14:40] about the negotiation. Uh and I am [00:14:42] talking about NATO headquarters. No one [00:14:46] no one there believes that Russia is [00:14:48] serious regarding the negotiation [00:14:51] current Russia. I mean I must say that [00:14:53] they all talk about Putin. They all talk [00:14:55] about the Kremlin. They all talk about [00:14:57] the current government. They are not [00:15:00] serious about it. And I've heard it. I I [00:15:03] I didn't hear any other opinion. [00:15:05] everyone absolutely everyone uh with [00:15:07] whom I managed to talk to for three days [00:15:09] they repeated the same sentiment and [00:15:12] we've seen that also in Mark Rut's words [00:15:17] in during his press conference and we've [00:15:20] heard the same thing in Munich in the [00:15:22] Munich security conference from uh state [00:15:25] secretary Marco Rubio he said that he's [00:15:27] not sure Russia is serious about the [00:15:29] negotiation what what does it mean it [00:15:32] means Putin of course because there's [00:15:34] only one person who actually makes the [00:15:36] decision. We all understand that and we [00:15:38] need to keep that in mind. Although [00:15:41] criminologists [00:15:42] and those people that have sources [00:15:45] inside the Kremlin, they have this idea [00:15:48] that there are also people that would [00:15:51] support some kind of a ceasefire, a [00:15:54] peace deal, or even going back to the uh [00:15:58] internationally recognized borders, but [00:16:01] only when Putin is not in power. only [00:16:04] when Putin is not there for him it's [00:16:07] larger than life this is more important [00:16:10] than anything else and Donbass and I [00:16:13] also quote um some NATO officials that [00:16:17] uh I talked to in uh NATO headquarters [00:16:21] Donbass is not the endgame Donbass is [00:16:25] not the last goal as President Trump [00:16:28] said many times Ukraine has been the [00:16:30] apple of Putin's eye he's been talking [00:16:32] about Ukraine for so along and all those [00:16:36] ideas, all those arguments, quote [00:16:40] unquote arguments by Medinski and the [00:16:42] like um they are all the the ridiculous [00:16:46] rewriting of history, rewriting of the [00:16:51] actual facts and how things actually [00:16:54] unfolded. So of course for Putin it's [00:16:57] the most important thing because he [00:16:59] wants to restore not only the Soviet [00:17:02] Union he wants to restore something like [00:17:04] Russian Empire but uh the Soviet Union [00:17:07] of course that would be the the [00:17:08] restoration that's most important for [00:17:10] him and if he cannot get the Baltic [00:17:13] states for example definitely he cannot [00:17:15] because they are part of NATO. No, but [00:17:18] there is danger for Muldova, there is [00:17:20] danger for Kazakhstan, there is danger [00:17:22] for many other countries that are um [00:17:25] surrounded by Russia, of course, and [00:17:27] Ukraine right now. And that is also [00:17:30] common knowledge and everyone [00:17:32] understands that. Unfortunately, [00:17:34] tragically, fighting for all of them, [00:17:36] fighting for all of those countries that [00:17:38] Putin have all would have already [00:17:40] attacked if it wasn't for Ukraine, if it [00:17:43] wasn't for the Ukrainian resilience. So [00:17:45] of course for Putin it's extremely [00:17:48] important to continue to go on and uh [00:17:51] definitely uh there there must be I I I [00:17:54] shouldn't say definitely but there must [00:17:56] be those people maybe not in the closest [00:18:00] circle for Putin because um he is uh we [00:18:06] understand that the KGB agent is always [00:18:08] a KGB agent and I must say he said that [00:18:11] exactly to the BBC correspondent in [00:18:14] Moscow. that a KGB agent is always a KGB [00:18:17] agent. So for him of course he doesn't [00:18:20] trust anyone apart from a few closest a [00:18:24] few select people and we don't even know [00:18:26] how uh trust how how if he trusts his [00:18:30] own family. There is this idea among [00:18:33] some Kremlinologists that actually his [00:18:36] daughter, one of his daughters who is [00:18:39] good friends with Kurill Ditrif is one [00:18:41] of those who thinks that there should be [00:18:44] a ceasefire but not to stop the war [00:18:47] forever but just to have a breather just [00:18:50] to have a pause to regroup and go on [00:18:54] again. So uh for Putin and for people [00:18:58] close to him of course uh it this war is [00:19:02] um very important in their ideological [00:19:06] worldview and Vladimir Madinski the head [00:19:09] of the Russian delegation if is one of [00:19:12] those who presents the philosophical [00:19:17] background for all that worldview of [00:19:20] restoring the Soviet Union or Russian [00:19:22] Empire. Um on the threat from China, [00:19:27] Kasparov warned that the Russian Empire [00:19:30] will inevitably collapse, but this could [00:19:33] create a new problem. Beijing is [00:19:35] prepared to take Russian territories all [00:19:38] the way to Lake Bal. How realistic is [00:19:41] the scenario of a rapid Russian collapse [00:19:44] with subsequent Chinese expansion? Uh [00:19:47] which territorial claims could Beijing [00:19:50] perceive following the collapse of the [00:19:52] Russia Russian Empire? [00:19:55] >> Well, of course, we understand that uh [00:19:58] Beijing uh right now is uh very um [00:20:03] careful in the way it interacts with [00:20:06] Russia. On the one hand, Beijing [00:20:08] receives all the benefits of the war and [00:20:12] it's very sad to say that there are huge [00:20:14] benefits for of the war for China [00:20:17] because for example uh right now we know [00:20:20] that Russia has too much oil. There are [00:20:24] no there's no capacity to keep all those [00:20:28] barrels of oil in Russia. There is too [00:20:30] much oil. They need to get rid of it. [00:20:32] They need to get rid of it. And that is [00:20:34] why they're selling the oil for the [00:20:36] price of $20 per barrel bar barrel and [00:20:40] $25 per barrel. And of course for China, [00:20:43] this is a great opportunity to get cheap [00:20:46] the cheapest resources and also not only [00:20:50] get the resources but also sell [00:20:52] everything to Russia because there is no [00:20:54] way there there are no markets. The [00:20:56] European market is closed. The Latin [00:20:57] American market is closed. There is no [00:21:00] way to buy from other countries. So of [00:21:02] course Russia is buying from China. So [00:21:04] China is producing everything for Russia [00:21:06] and China is getting cheap cheap cheap [00:21:08] cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap [00:21:09] resources and um for example if we talk [00:21:12] about drones uh we understand that this [00:21:14] war is a drone war and it's also been [00:21:17] discussed by many military specialists [00:21:20] and right now it's a race of time of how [00:21:25] fast will Russia or the American side or [00:21:28] NATO NATO countries will have the [00:21:32] opportunity the AI opportunity unities [00:21:34] to have just one computer or one person [00:21:38] through AI controlling for example 100 [00:21:41] drones because right now you need a [00:21:44] person to control a drone this is a [00:21:46] drone war so it's only a question of [00:21:49] time when will Russia have that [00:21:53] opportunity when will Russia have that [00:21:55] technology and where could it get that [00:21:57] technology from most probably from China [00:22:01] most probably Chinese companies will be [00:22:04] the ones that um have that technology [00:22:07] that have have that AI opportunity. So [00:22:10] for China of course it's also very [00:22:13] interesting how would they [00:22:17] need that much cheap resources but if [00:22:20] they could exchange it for land why not [00:22:24] why not give that technology to Russia [00:22:26] in exchange for land up until lake bol [00:22:31] and even now we understand that there is [00:22:34] huge presence of Chinese uh companies of [00:22:38] Chinese investment [00:22:40] surrounding by call surrounding air [00:22:44] surrounding Anars for example that's a [00:22:48] former closed city where there is a huge [00:22:52] nuclear power station so there are in [00:22:56] there are vast interests of China in [00:22:58] that region so of course um if China has [00:23:02] a new technology that might be a [00:23:05] gamecher in the war Russia will probably [00:23:08] not have enough money to buy that [00:23:11] technology because that would be a [00:23:13] breakthrough and that would really it it [00:23:15] would be like a nuclear let's say bomb [00:23:18] in the second world war it this might be [00:23:20] a gamecher so how will Russia pay they [00:23:24] will most probably pay uh in the land [00:23:28] and for China that would be very [00:23:29] interesting and this this could be a [00:23:31] project of I don't know renting it for [00:23:34] 100 years for example or at least for 49 [00:23:36] years or something like that for 99 [00:23:38] years for 49 years something like that. [00:23:41] So of course China is very careful right [00:23:45] now. It is getting all the benefits [00:23:47] right now and it might get even more [00:23:50] benefit if the war goes on and if there [00:23:54] is this AI technology that might really [00:23:58] become the game changer in this drone [00:24:00] war because we understand this is a new [00:24:02] kind of war and everyone knows that and [00:24:05] of course it's also been discussed at [00:24:07] the ministerial at the NATO headquarters [00:24:09] ministerial a meeting of ministers of [00:24:12] defense in NATO and we all understand [00:24:16] that this is a race of time and for [00:24:18] China year 27 is especially important [00:24:22] because in year 27 it's going to be 100 [00:24:25] years of the Chinese army and the next [00:24:29] meeting of the Chinese Communist Party. [00:24:32] It's all going to happen in 2027. This [00:24:36] is why American specialists and my [00:24:38] colleagues that actually are China [00:24:41] watchers because uh China is so closed [00:24:43] down that uh everyone who is a political [00:24:46] analyst on China they merely call [00:24:48] themselves China watchers. This is the [00:24:51] only thing you can do just to watch what [00:24:53] is actually happening. So all the China [00:24:55] watchers are very concerned about 2027 [00:25:00] and what is that going to bring not only [00:25:03] to Taiwan but actually to the world. [00:25:07] >> Alexandra parallel to our conversation [00:25:10] right now there are reports of a [00:25:12] potential missile threats from Russia's [00:25:14] Astrahan region. We're talking about [00:25:17] arishnik missile. But this our message [00:25:19] to Putin that Ukrainians are not afraid. [00:25:22] Missile threat will not break our will. [00:25:26] Intimidate our people of force um us [00:25:28] into submission. We remained united, [00:25:32] resilient and determined. Um Ukraine [00:25:34] stands firm and no act of intimidation [00:25:37] will change um that. Um Alexander, thank [00:25:39] you so much for this conversation, for [00:25:43] your thoughts. I need to say that uh [00:25:46] today we had a conversation with um [00:25:49] Alexandra Philipena, [00:25:51] political analyst, European Leadership [00:25:53] Network UK member. Thank you so much and [00:25:56] see you. [00:25:57] >> Thank you for having me. See you.