Anatol Lieven

Inserted 1 year ago

“The Russian navy, surface navy at least, is outnumbered four to one by NATO European members alone and by far more by the American navy - so in terms of numbers, there is no contest. Where Russia is equal to the US is in nuclear weapons, which is why President Putin repeatedly emphasises Russia's missile technology because this is the one area in which Russia is still a superpower. The Russian navy has always been considered to have had a relatively high morale and good commanders but it cannot realistically fight NATO … The only area where the navy is actually in action is in the Black Sea and Russia cannot reinforce the navy in the Black Sea.”

Aljazeera

Senior research fellow on Russia and Europe at the Quincy Institute of Responsible Statecraft