Sergey Yastrzhembsky: “I see no signs of Russia preparing for war”

About the disappointment in the CPSU

We all, I'm talking about my generation, come from the Soviet Union. My social activity began to manifest itself quite early. I studied at a Moscow special school with a French bias. He became a political informant, now it's funny to remember. He made short international reports on the international situation. Early joined the Komsomol. Yes, it's all true.

As for whether I believed in communism, it’s hard to say, because it’s more like some kind of political, there should be an internal situation, a program, a faith that is based on something. And the fact that I did not question the system that existed around me is a fact.

It was necessary to join the party, to work, that's for sure. I joined the party when I was studying at MGIMO. The career of a diplomat, international affairs specialist was virtually unthinkable without membership in the CPSU.

When did the disappointment start? Then, probably, when I got access to the information that the majority of the population of the Soviet Union did not have. This is a special depository of the MGIMO library; and then I began to travel abroad and buy all kinds of books, plus I began to read the daily press, French, primarily, and American newspapers. And the emergence of alternative sources of information led to the fact that I began to have doubts and thoughts - is it the way things are, as they tell us?

About whether he was ashamed of Yeltsin?

If you mean in human terms, to be ashamed of the president, (such situations) have not been one.

When the president was not, say, in adequate shape and made some mistakes when answering questions or commenting, yes, there were such situations. And the most difficult situation was at a press conference in Stockholm in December 1997 (then Yeltsin called Japan and Germany nuclear powers, said that Sweden was at war with Russia in the 20th century, and then tripped over a microphone wire and almost fell; Yastrzhembsky saved the president from complete failure, all the remaining time supporting him by the hand, - approx. "NI").

But on a human level, fortunately, I have not had a single situation where I was uncomfortable or ashamed of the president.

On the attitude towards Maria Zakharova and Dmitry Peskov

There is such a Latin expression, however, they say about the dead: De mortuis aut bene, aut nihil, “the dead are either good or nothing”.

I wish Maria Zakharova many years of life and fruitful work, but, in this case, I will say that about Maria Zakharova aut bene, aut nihil. I can't say anything good, I won't say anything bad.

We have very good relations with Dmitry. And how long. We were in the same team of Vladimir Vladimirovich from 2000 to 2008.

I consider him a very talented press secretary who gets a very hard bread. He alone, in fact, if you do not take the sector of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, covers all executive power.

There were many more press secretaries in my time. They now, it seems, also exist, but no one knows them. This is bad.

Who is Mishustin's press secretary, do you know? I don't even know the last name. Do you see it in the information space? You don't see.

Who is the spokesman for the Department of Defense, do you know? I do not know either. They say some beautiful woman, but I just didn't see it, I don't know.

Who is the press secretary in the Ministry of Emergency Situations? There used to be a woman who was known throughout the country.

But the fact is that for some reason, I cannot understand, it has become fashionable to hide the press secretaries of ministries and departments.

Indeed, there are only Peskov and Zakharova in the whole country, and there are no others. why aren't they?

Therefore, Dmitry Sergeevich has to take the rap for all the executive power.

I sympathize with him very much. I think he does his job very well. I wish him a lot of health.

On whether there will be a war with Ukraine

I see no sign of Russia preparing for any military activity in Ukraine. The fact that Russia is gathering troops on its own territory is not a sign of preparations for war.

Maneuvers are taking place, exercises are taking place, sudden exercises are taking place, some actions are taking place related to the union state of Belarus, and so on.

All this, in my opinion, is still part of the political toolkit, and not the military one.

The same political tools are demonstrated by our opponents: NATO, the US, and so on.

The presence of French naval forces, sporadic or British, in the Black Sea does not mean that London and Paris are preparing for war.

The appearance in a particular territory of the Russian Federation of an excess, at the moment, of a contingent of armed forces does not mean that these people are sent there to carry out military operations in the future.

Another thing is the interpretation - political and informational, but here everyone is already in what much.

The entire interview with Sergey Yastrzhembsky can be viewed here.