Russia is trying to harm Europe and the USA with its intelligence activities.. This was stated by former director of the Secret Intelligence Service of the UK MI6 John Sawers. According to him, the main goal of Moscow is to weaken and divide Europe.. He came to this conclusion based only on London’s well-known “facts”, namely: Russia allegedly interfered in European electoral processes, supported populist parties, poisoned ex-colonel of the GRU Sergey Skripal in Salisbury and attempted to attack the organization banning chemical weapons in The hague.
“What are Russia pursuing by their actions? I think this is a zero-sum game.
They do not believe in the outcome in which both parties will win.. If the other side wins, Russia will lose.. And vice versa. It's about a particular mentality.. They know that in the coming years, their economy will not be powerful and dynamic, so they are still making efforts, mainly aimed at weakening and splitting Europe, "said Sawers in an interview with El Pais. At the same time, according to the former head of M16, between Russia and the West today there is no large-scale confrontation in all areas. "Russians really appreciate very well in which areas they want to cooperate, and in which they prefer confrontation. I think that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a very skillful leader. He knows: what Russia wants to achieve has its limits.. He is trying to create a sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe and split the West, but not against cooperation on energy issues and, to some extent, on technology issues, "said a former intelligence officer.. Earlier, British Prime Minister Theresa May proudly reported that the steps of Western countries in response to the alleged use of nerve drugs by Moscow in case of poisoning of Scripale’s father and daughter caused serious damage to Russian intelligence for many years to come..
Such an action was “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers that ever took place.”.
Her words leads edition of The Independent.