US neocons aim to provoke 'global war' with Russia: Analyst

The “aggressive” policies of the United States toward Russia are “morally reprehensible” and a violation of international law, a writer and investigative journalist in Arizona.

The agenda of the “maniac” neoconservatives in Washington is to provoke a global war with Moscow, said Joachim Hagopian, a columnist at Veterans Today and a former US Army officer.

“If anybody is in the wrong and doing what is morally reprehensible and illegal… is America not Russia,” Hagopian told Press TV on Sunday.

The United States is considering new strategies to prevent Russia from meddling in Europe, in what some officials describe as an “updated version of Cold War-era containment,” according to a report.

The approach involves boosting militaries of allies and potential partners, expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and increased training exercises, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The United States needs to reassess its strategy towards Moscow because economic sanctions and other Western actions have failed to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to reverse course in Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Friday.

“It’s clear the sanctions are working on the Russian economy, but what is not apparent is that that effect on his economy is deterring Putin from following the course that was evidenced in Crimea last year,” Carter said Friday.

Carter made the comments in Stuttgart, Germany after a gathering of three dozen US military generals and ambassadors based in Europe.

“It’s interesting Secretary of Defense Carter would be talking about Russia’s aggression when in fact it was America that illegally replaced, by overthrow and violent coup, the democratically elected president of Ukraine,” Hagopian said.

“Carter’s full of himself, like most so-called American leaders are, and it’s just all about trying to provoke Putin into reacting in a world war scenario,” he added.

“So if anybody is being aggressive and out of line and violating international law, it’s the United States of America, not Putin and Russia,” Hagopian said. “Putin is merely acting in self defense due to the offensive violations of international law that America is doing to his neighbor, Ukraine.”

US President Barack Obama meets with leaders of European allies this weekend in Germany, where he is expected to push for a tougher stance against Moscow. Obama arrived in Bavarian Alps on Sunday for a G7 summit that will address the conflict in Ukraine.

The United States and Russia have been at loggerheads over the crisis in Ukraine after US-backed forces ousted the country’s elected president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

Washington accuses Moscow of orchestrating an “illegitimate referendum to annex Crimea" and fuelling unrest in eastern Ukraine.

AHT/HRJ

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