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00:00I speak to Natia Saskaria, who is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
00:04Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
00:06There can be no doubt in anybody's mind that Russia is, power in Russia is solely concentrated
00:11in the hands of one man.
00:13Just tell us what messages emerged from President Putin's inauguration speech that stood out
00:18for you.
00:19Thank you very much for having me.
00:22Well, today we saw very much staged performance by Putin, something that he was, was very
00:29much expected by everyone really.
00:32But I think it's, it's interesting to, to see, to unpack what sort of messages he has
00:38voiced from the stage where, when he addressed the 2,500 people and of course, invited guests
00:46and of course the Russian population was the main target audience.
00:50He pressed and he stressed on security and stability, something that most Russians are
00:58most likely worried about due to the fact that there is an ongoing war effort from the
01:03Russian side against Ukraine.
01:06And he also thanked the, the Russians as well as the soldiers for their, their effort when
01:14it comes to war in Ukraine.
01:16And he also made an emphasis on the unity and on Russia being a great nation.
01:22We saw, we, we heard that the nationalistic statements from Putin, which was very much
01:28expected as well.
01:29And something that was also interesting is that he sent a message that the choice is
01:36on the Western side when it comes to, when it comes to diplomatic discussions.
01:42But there, there wasn't really much novelty in this statement because Putin reiterated
01:49that the cooperation, the cooperation and peace would be only established if the West
01:57takes into consideration the Russian terms, which we already know that is not take, is
02:05very much focused on Ukraine losing its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
02:10Now, let's talk about the guest list at that event today at the Kremlin.
02:14There were diplomatic representatives from Hungary, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus, Malta,
02:19and France.
02:21They all attended.
02:22Just yesterday, the French ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Lévy, was summoned and the foreign
02:27ministry says he was intimidated or threatened by the Russian foreign ministry.
02:31Why do you think he decided it would be a good idea to attend?
02:35Well, it's a strange decision, to be honest, that France still decided to represent its
02:46ambassador at the inauguration ceremonies, especially in light of the statements that
02:53Joseph Borrell has made.
02:55And he, he urged, let's put it that way, he, he recommended the leaders to abstain from
03:03attending this highly staged inaugural ceremony, which we already know that is not a representative
03:11of free and fair elections because Putin was competing against no one in this election.
03:17So it's, it's a strange decision.
03:20And also in light of the fact that tensions have been rising between France and, and Russia
03:29due to the recent developments.
03:31And we saw that the representatives of the countries were very much, that were present,
03:39were very much from those countries that are supportive or have somewhat neutral standing
03:45when it comes to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
03:48And France is, of course, not within the list of these countries.
03:54Here in France, President Macron has been busy mending fences and building bridges with
03:58the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
04:00And I'm just wondering if you think this relationship that seems to have improved between Paris
04:05and Beijing could be used to help defuse tensions to some extent with Moscow?
04:10Well, it's, it's an interesting question.
04:16I, I doubt to be honest, as much as China is, of course, very important partner for
04:23Russia, and they have been providing crucial support to Russia when it comes to economy,
04:30for example, they are still very much interested in having this sort of balanced standing when
04:37it comes to, when it comes to balancing their sort of interests and their relationships
04:45between, between European Union and Moscow.
04:49And they certainly align with Moscow when it comes to, when it comes to their anti-Western
04:56rhetoric, their anti-Western interests.
04:58So I think it is, despite the fact that Chinese leadership has mentioned a few times that
05:06they would be willing to play this sort of mediator, mediating role, I doubt that there
05:12is much willingness from the Chinese part to negotiate with Russia to end the war in
05:19Ukraine and at the same time, take into consideration Ukraine's, Ukraine's legitimate, legitimate
05:26concerns when it comes to territorial integrity and sovereignty and the restoration of the,
05:32of the, of the territories or territorial control.
05:35Okay.
05:36Thanks for that.
05:37I mean, I wanted to ask for your reaction on reaction that came from Alexei Navalny's
05:43widow.
05:44She says Russia is ruled by a liar, a thief and a murderer.
05:49I'm just wondering how audible do you think she is to people in Russia?
05:53And do you think we're going to hear more from her in the years to come?
05:57Well, of course, Yulia Navalny is trying her best to ensure that she continues the work
06:05that he, her husband has started to, to, to, to basically make Russians understand
06:16the threats that Putin represents, those Russians who do not understand it yet.
06:21But unfortunately, the fact is that the system, which does not really allow the alternative
06:29voices to be present in the media, in public.
06:33And of course, the fact itself that Yulia Navalny is, is, is doing her job from, from
06:40the West is a disadvantage for her in a sense that she is not accessible.
06:46Her work, her, her voice is not accessible to most of Russians who are still trapped
06:54within Russia.
06:55And, and we believe the state propaganda that they are subjected to on a daily basis.
07:01Okay.
07:02Well, thanks a lot for sharing all that with us and answering those various, various questions
07:07we put to you.
07:08Natalia Saskouri, Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
07:11Thank you very much indeed.
07:15The Summer Olympics.