Sergey Karaganov, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Boris Yeltsin, warned Europe on Wednesday that Russia would use nuclear weapons against the continent should it ever come close to defeat.
During an interview with Tucker Carlson, Karaganov – the head of Russia’s Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, which is close to Putin – called the idea of a Russian defeat by Europe “a fantastic illusion,” blaming such talk on the “intellectual incapacity” of European leaders.
“What is defeat of Russia? If Russia comes ever close to a defeat, that would mean that Russia now would use nuclear weapons and Europe would be finished physically,” he warned. “So I mean, it’s simply impossible even to think about it, but they have been talking because they need a war to rationalize their stay in power, to rationalize their existence.”
Karagnov continued, “Everybody in the world now laughs at Europe, which used to be, by the way, one of the core centers of world power. Now it’s a joke. And of course, I am not speaking of all Europe. We know that there are decent Europeans. There are smart Europeans.”
Carlson questioned, “When you say everyone knows that the Russian government, if pressed, would use nuclear weapons against Europe, do you mean that, is my question, and do you think that the Europeans understand that?”
Arguing that Europeans had been “intellectually degrading” since “the 1968 so-called student revolution, which killed most of European education, and because of the anti-meritocracy of the modern European democratic system,” Karagnov claimed that the leaders of Europe were “unable to understand what is happening fully.”
“They believe that war will never come to their territory. They forgot about the war and that it’s terrible,” he said. “Now, one of the tasks of Russia in addition to all others is to bring them to senses hopefully without using nuclear weapons.”
Karagnov also criticized the Russian government for being “too patient” with Europe.
“I am criticizing my government of being too prudent and too patient with them,” he told Carlson, adding, “But sooner or later, if they continue to support this war, sacrificing numerous of the Ukrainians and others […] We’ll have to punish them severely. Hopefully in a limited sense.”
Watch above via The Tucker Carlson Show.
