Russians No Longer Simply Accept Kremlin Argument that Clash with West was Inevitable, ‘Nezavisimaya gazeta’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 11 – In the last few months, Russians have stopped accepting the Kremlin’s argument that a clash with the West was inevitable and have begun to question why Moscow has adopted the policies that are isolating Russia and leading to an increasingly hurtful sanctions regime, according to the editors of Moscow’s Nezavisimaya gazeta.

            Until recently, most Russians had accepted the Kremlin’s suggestion that Russia is not and cannot be isolated, that the Crimean Anschluss was “not a cause but an occasion for sanction pressure,” and that Russia is in “a state of quasi-war with the West” because such a war was “inevitable” (ng.ru/editorial/2018-12-10/2_7459_red.html).

                That argument, for those who accepted it, also meant that changing the supreme commander in such circumstances was “neither necessary nor timely” and therefore Putin must remain in power for as long as necessary, a period that extends ever further into the future because of the requirements of “the rhetoric of confrontation with the West.”

                For most of the last four years, the editors say, Russians did accept it; bu9t “after the presidential elections, one could observe if not a change of the social-political paradigm then at the very least a change of accents in ways that were far from always controlled by the powers that be” or supporting its claims.

                “One can say,” they continue, “that the focus began to shift after the government announced the pension reform and the raising of the VAT. During the presidential campaign, these measures had not been announced. The September elections in the regions generated the interest of citizens and were dominated by a social-economic agenda.”

            At the end of fall, the editors argue, the rise in prices for gas became a serious issue. This was hardly the first such jump in gas prices, but now, as things turned out, citizens are ready to discuss the problem more concreted and specifically than earlier.”  And that has political consequences for the Kremlin. 

            That is because “almost for the first time in the last 18 years, the economy is beginning to rise to first place in political discussions. And from this will come a change in attitudes toward sanctions. The rhetoric of war is ceasing to be a subject of interest. Instead, of interest are actions intended either to end Russia’s isolation or to overcome the consequences of foreign limitations.”