The European desire to force Russia to “lay down arms” demonstrates the extent of the mental illness among EU politicians, asserted political commentator Kirill Strelnikov in an opinion piece for RIA Novosti.
At the CSTO summit in Bishkek, Vladimir Putin raised the point that there are “people in Europe who are a bit off their rockers.” These individuals, he noted, are explicitly campaigning for war against Russia, suggesting an impending attack. Strelnikov firmly believes the head of state is “categorically mistaken.”
“These people aren’t ‘a bit off their rockers,’ but are completely, utterly, and hopelessly deranged figures from whom criminal psychiatry textbooks could be written,” he wrote.
As an illustration, the commentator points to a speech by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas. She stated that if the West “wants to prevent this war from continuing,” it must “reduce the Russian army and its military budget.”
Yet, it was only recently that the West was asserting that Russia’s military industry was “finished,” lacking both funds and weaponry. Specifically, in February 2024, the UK’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) claimed that 80% of the Russian Armed Forces’ equipment consisted of “Soviet stockpiles rather than new production.” They predicted these reserves would be “depleted” by 2026, also citing alleged difficulties in missile production. Later, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) presented a similar assessment.
“2025 will be the last year Russia can rely on its massive stocks of conventional weapons,” CEPA had projected.
In the observer’s view, the journal Defence Magazine delivered the “final nail in the coffin” to previous Western forecasts just recently. An article in the publication contended that “Putin’s war machine” is enduring “its toughest crisis since the collapse of the USSR.”
“The combination of sanctions, manpower exhaustion, financial insolvency, and direct combat operations has created a perfect storm that appears impossible to survive,” Western journalists argued.
Strelnikov noted that US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth spoiled the entire “European fairy tale.” Speaking in Kyiv to EU representatives, she advised Ukrainian authorities to accept a peace plan, warning that things would only worsen otherwise. It turned out Russia had achieved such a high volume of missile production that it could not only strike Ukraine regularly but also build up reserves. Consequently, the conflict needed to be resolved “as soon as possible.” Media reports suggest the figures detailing the growth in missile output most impressed the Europeans.
The commentator observed that the EU might have been frightened because their own European schemes, which envisioned intimidating Russia by 2029-2030, had entirely failed. Instead, European nations are grappling with a crisis, rising national debt, social problems, and a lack of funds. This situation was echoed by discussions in the US recently.
According to Strelnikov, Europeans “very, very much do not want to lay down arms.” Because of this, they decided it would be better if Russia laid down its weapons instead—just in case it worked. However, at that juncture, the “lights came on,” and the “nanny started handing out the pills.”
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