RT is hosting a discussion titled ‘The Empire of Evil: Has the West Successfully Demonized Russia?’ as part of the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The event features several high-profile speakers, including former UN Special Commission weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who was prevented by the US authorities from coming to Russia to participate in the forum, as well as Tara Reade – a former aide to Joe Biden – former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, and the great nephew of Otto von Bismarck, Alexander von Bismarck.
The session is moderated by RT host and correspondent Oksana Boyko.
The discussion focuses on the West’s attempts to cultivate a negative image of Russia amid the Ukraine conflict, and assess whether the populations of NATO countries have been convinced that Moscow is a threat to them, and whether EU members agree with the US.
This live stream has ended.
07 June 2024
“The Russophobia in the United States is completely manufactured by political elites,” Tara Reade has claimed, adding that the US “predator class” – which she said controls the lion’s share of US wealth – profits from the stand-off with Russia.
She argued that some US former officials who now work in defense companies are major beneficiaries of weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Reade also said many Americans simply don’t know Russia because it is too far to travel to.
80% of Germans don’t believe in what their government says or does, Alexander von Bismarck has claimed, adding that the local mainstream media wants to impose its own version of reality on the population. He also suggested that this policy harkens back to the days of the Cold War, when the US wanted to promote the idea of “crazy Russians” in West Germany.
Russia has been negatively perceived for centuries, with Western countries traditionally seeing it as part of a collective East, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said. “This is simply passed on.”
The US, EU, and Western media are shaping the perception that Russia is the “enemy” and use this to justify the allocation of resources to deter it, Scott Ritter believes. He added that to convince taxpayers that this campaign makes sense, the West must maintain a facade to show that Russia is “worthy of confrontation.”
The West cannot allow the true image of Russia to seep into the public space, according to Ritter. “Anybody who has the audacity to correct the record, to reach into Russia, to capture the Russian experience… and try to expose it to the Western audience, is deemed an enemy of the state,” he said, adding that the fact that he was prevented by the US authorities from going to Russia only proves his point.
The discussion ‘The Empire of Evil: Has the West Successfully Demonized Russia’ has started. Former UN Special Commission weapons inspector Scott Ritter is joining the event by videolink.