Bryza: Intelligence intercepted orders to kill 200 people to justify Russia"s intervention

Former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza called for tougher sanctions aimed against Russia. "We need sanctions on Iranian type, we need to hit Gunvor, Gazprom , Rosneft, Sechin and Putin," Bryza said, speaking at the Washington forum "The crisis in Ukraine , Russia's policy , the response of the West," organized by the Jamestown Foundation yesterday.

Although U.S. military aid to Ukraine is minimal, intelligence cooperation has increased significantly, said Bryza. According to him, thanks to intelligence, there was averted a major provocation in East Ukraine: "Intelligence intercepted the order to kill about 200 people and to create a pretext to justify military intervention of Russia."

Bryza drew a parallel between the situation in Ukraine and the events of August 2008 in Georgia: "The lack of a serious response from the West then cheered Putin's new aggression," he said.

Bryza said that during the Russian aggression in Georgia, the West "chose not to hear the cries for help, although, according to the position of the Georgians, military response to Russia was a holy thing."

"Today, I believe that President Saakashvili was right when he decided to give  military resistance against the aggressor, vastly superior to the military power of Georgia, without a hope of winning , and without hope of relief ," said Bryza . According to him, the Georgian experience has shown that "Putin retreats only when he gets rebuffed."

Speaking about the Kremlin's strategy in Ukraine, Bryza said that the "guerrilla and sabotage tactics chosen by Putin is a failure" and steps he has taken have led to the failure of Russia. "He justifies his action by fear of NATO enlargement, but in the end NATO really is increasing its presence in the region," said the American expert. -0 -