#scottritter

0:01scottita former US Marine Corpse

0:03intelligence officer welcome to TV Rain

0:06to start with I'd like to ask you a

0:08question about the war in Ukraine i've

0:10watched many of your videos and

0:12commentaries and in particular you've

0:14said Ukraine is Russia i saw this on

0:17Twitter or rather on the social platform

0:20X do you actually believe this statement

0:23and what is it based on first of all

0:25it's a I think you're you're

0:28cherry-picking a uh a comment that was

0:30made um in the context of a larger uh

0:34discussion about um the strategic

0:38direction that Ukraine

0:41um should be following um in terms of

0:44history and uh right now inside Ukraine

0:47there seems to be a a struggle between

0:51those who are promoting a um sort of a

0:54pro- European Union approach meaning

0:57that Ukraine should be part of Europe

0:59and so the slogan is Ukraine is Europe

1:03and what I am responding to is the fact

1:06that historically

1:08uh Ukraine is more Russia than Europe

1:12and that when one speaks about the

1:15strategic direction Ukraine

1:18uh in my assessment should be following

1:20if it wants to achieve um political

1:24economic stability uh that direction

1:27goes through Russia ukraine has been a

1:30part of Russia ukraine has been

1:33affiliated with Russia during the Soviet

1:35Union and Ukraine has always had very

1:37close ties with Russia um and the this

1:42new embrace of the European Union is u

1:44in my opinion an artificial construct uh

1:47that has been forced upon the Ukrainians

1:51by a collective western uh power

1:55structure that doesn't seek to bring

1:58Ukraine in as a friend but rather use

2:00Ukraine as a tool to bring down Russia

2:03so from that perspective Ukraine is more

2:06Russia than it is Europe

2:09let me clarify again this is a quote

2:11from X you wrote it in response to Gary

2:14Kasparov Russian politician it's not

2:15taken out of context it is a short full

2:18comment and I've quoted it entirely but

2:21when you talk about Ukraine's future and

2:23the direction it should take I don't

2:25hear you mention the choice of the

2:27Ukrainian people

2:31themselves you don't deny Ukraine

2:33statehood do you if the Ukrainian people

2:35want to move towards Europe why do you

2:38think they owe anything to anyone

2:41of course Ukraine is a sovereign state

2:43and if the people of Ukraine

2:45legitimately manifest uh their will uh

2:49to say that uh Europe is their future

2:52not Russia then um who am I or who is

2:55anybody to stand in their way uh but I

2:58think we know that the history is uh far

3:00more complex than that we know that the

3:02CIA has been working with Ukrainian

3:05nationalists to undermine um the Soviet

3:09Union and later Russia this has been

3:11ongoing since 1946 it's not a matter of

3:14debate you're a journalist you know this

3:15you know what the CIA has done you know

3:18its relationships with the Organization

3:20of Ukrainian National where do we know

3:21it from well the CIA itself has

3:24acknowledged this they have declassified

3:25documentation that uh that proves this

3:28we have an entire structure here in the

3:30United States the Ukrainian Congress uh

3:34the history of which is linked to the

3:35Banderas who seized control of the

3:37Ukrainian Congress in 1980 through the

3:39liberation front again a front funded by

3:42the CIA this is common knowledge um and

3:45it's the documentation of this is is

3:48available and the reason why I bring

3:49this up is to point out that uh outside

3:53interests not Ukrainian interests

3:55outside interests have been conspiring

3:58um for some time now to disassociate

4:00Ukraine from Russia we saw this with the

4:04orange revolution in 2004 2005 which

4:07unconstitutionally removed Victor

4:09Yanukovic replaced him with Ukrainian

4:11nationalist government uh but was unable

4:14to suppress the will of the Russian

4:17population or the Russian sympathetic

4:19population which re reelected Victor

4:21Yanukovich in 2010 leading to the 2014

4:25Maidon event uh Ukrainians call this a

4:28revolution the revolution of dignity

4:31other people such as myself call it what

4:33it is a CIA sponsored coup d'eta to

4:36remove Victor Yanukovic and then using

4:38the actual violence to suppress the

4:42ability of the Russian people to stand

4:44up and say we don't want to be part of

4:47the European Union so the idea that the

4:49Ukrainian people have said collectively

4:53we want to be part of Europe I think is

4:56a misrepresentation of fact it's much

4:58more nuanced than that i would believe

5:01in a system that uh void of outside

5:06interference from either the West or

5:08Russia allowed the Ukrainian people to

5:10make this decision by themselves but so

5:13far that uh that scenario hasn't been

5:16manifested the CIA has been heavily

5:19invested in pursuing Ukrainian

5:22nationalism as a vector to remove

5:24Russian influence in Ukraine for decades

5:28i understand your position it aligns

5:30entirely with what representatives of

5:32the Russian state say and radically

5:34diverges from what Ukrainian citizens

5:36say these are people who actually go to

5:39elections and vote democratically for

5:41their leaders but let's not dive into

5:43history that conversation would take too

5:45long and unfortunately neither of us

5:47have several

5:49hours what I would like to understand is

5:52where does your confidence in Russia's

5:54invincibility come from Mr

5:56in a recent interview you said that

5:58Trump's only trump card is to

6:00acknowledge America's defeat i hope I'm

6:02not quoting out of context and you meant

6:05defeat in the war in Ukraine where does

6:08this belief come from that Russia is the

6:10most powerful or one of the most

6:12powerful global players

6:16because it is i mean it's a statement of

6:18fact not an assessment um you know

6:21General Kavoli who's a four-star general

6:23United States Army active duty has made

6:26similar comments about um the the state

6:29of the Russian military that it's

6:31getting stronger not weaker uh that it's

6:33able to mobilize manpower quicker than

6:36its NATO counterparts that it's able to

6:39its defense industry is better

6:41positioned to replace i understand i

6:44apologize for interrupting you Mr but

6:46why hasn't the Russian army in three

6:48years taken the cities it intended to

6:51kiev Odessa Kharkiv and others cities

6:54that Putin clearly claimed but was

6:56unable to seize

6:58you know it's curious you keep bringing

7:00up the three-day uh point um I'm guilty

7:03of saying that Russia was going to

7:05accomplish I never said three days you

7:07literally just said three days uh that

7:10How can I explain that i said three

7:12years in the three years since the war

7:15began the Russian army has not been able

7:17to take the Ukrainian cities it was

7:18aiming for the ones Putin counted on let

7:22me let me let me ask you i know you're

7:25the interviewer but I'll just ask a

7:27question when has Russia the Russian

7:29government said our golden objectives

7:32are to take Karkov Odessa and Kiev find

7:36me one Russian government statement that

7:38says that numerous government officials

7:41have said this i can find you a million

7:43quotes honestly I

7:45promise even as I was preparing for this

7:48interview I came across several

7:49statements by participants in Russian

7:51political talk shows who said it

7:53outright that they should capture major

7:55Ukrainian

7:59cities for example an official one of

8:03the highest ranking as you know former

8:05president of Russia formerly he also

8:07said that Odessa is a Russian city and

8:09so on these things are being said

8:11constantly

8:12[Music]

8:14i I I I think Vladimir I think Vladimir

8:16Putin has said that Russia is is that

8:18Odessa is a Russian city and I think

8:21many Russians would say historically

8:22that's an accurate statement but talking

8:25about the historical roots of Adessa and

8:28saying that it's a uh a Russian military

8:30objective are two totally different

8:32things um the the Russians and and you

8:36know this you you you say you prepared

8:38for this interview so let me tell you

8:39what the facts are then russia initiated

8:42a special military operation on 22

8:45February 2022 or 24 February perhaps um

8:50the goals of which were to get Ukraine

8:52to the negotiating table that were that

8:55are the goals of the special military

8:57operation and Russia succeeded within

8:59six days of initiating this um military

9:03operation ukraine began negotiating in

9:06the city of GMO three rounds before it

9:08transitioned to Turkey and by the end of

9:10March Russia and Ukraine had agreed to

9:13what's known as the Istanbul communique

9:15which would have brought an end to this

9:17conflict at that point in time Russia

9:20was saying that it was going to withdraw

9:21from the territories that had been

9:23occupied because the goals were never to

9:25occupy Ukrainian territory but rather

9:27bring an end to the conflict which

9:29Ukraine was unwilling to do through the

9:31Minsk Accords these are statements of

9:33fact ukraine buckled under pressure by

9:36the west throughout the the Istanbul

9:39commun and made the decision to move

9:40forward with the conflict compelling

9:43Russia to move into phase two then phase

9:45three and today what we have is Russia

9:47engaged in a war of attrition against

9:50Ukraine designed to defeat not just the

9:52Ukrainian military but the collective

9:54west the Ukrainians themselves

9:56acknowledge that they are merely a proxy

9:59for the collective west for NATO for the

10:01European Union for the United States

10:03this is a broader war than the one that

10:05you that you speak of um Senator Mr you

10:09are a frequent guest on Russian state

10:11media some would say that associating

10:13with propaganda harms your reputation

10:15does it bother you that for example

10:17Vladimir Soliv regularly lies on air

10:20spreads disinformation and falsehoods

10:22does that concern you vladimir Solivv is

10:26um is his own man and he's responsible

10:28for his own words i was asked to take

10:30part in the shows up you asked me to

10:32take part in your show does it bother

10:34you that many Russians believe that

10:36you're a pro nibali outlet that uh

10:38conspires against the legitimacy of the

10:40Putin regime should I deny and say I

10:44won't be on your show because people

10:45speak ill of you you asked me to be here

10:49i'm here because I respect you as a

10:50journalist um other people ask me to

10:53appear on programs as an

10:56editor being let's say pro- Western

10:59doesn't mean lying on air calling for

11:02the destruction of Ukrainian cities or

11:04spreading false information even about

11:06me

11:07personally believe me I'm absolutely

11:09don't mean to interrupt you but I'm

11:11short on time i genuinely want to

11:13understand your

11:14motivation take Vladimir Solivio for

11:16example or other hosts like Olga Caba

11:19they spread lies from the first word to

11:21the last about people like me declare us

11:24enemies of the state forced us out of

11:26the country we are citizens

11:31of they support and fuel this war what

11:34is your attitude toward that why doesn't

11:36that bother you there is a clear

11:38difference between what I do and what

11:40they do

11:42you have your position and I respect it

11:45they have their position and it's their

11:47position i'm invited on programs as an

11:51expert i am accountable for my words and

11:54my words alone um I've been invited on

11:57Iranian TV that doesn't mean that I buy

11:59into death to America chanting from the

12:02Iranian people i've been invited to

12:04speak on Yemen TV that doesn't mean that

12:06I support the Yemeni operations uh in

12:09the Red Sea i've spoken on Israeli TV

12:11Palestinian TV Hezbollah TV French TV

12:14German TV Italian TV i've spoken on

12:17American outlets where the people invite

12:20me because they want to know what I have

12:22to think i go on because I feel that my

12:26voice if they've invited me my voice

12:28should contribute to a larger discussion

12:31but I am not to be held accountable for

12:35the uh opinions of anybody who invites

12:39me on whether it be your opinions that

12:41some people have been critical of or for

12:43instance the opinions of Mr of you who

12:45you

12:47are to finish if I may and I don't want

12:50you to see this as an insult but I can't

12:53avoid asking this question because many

12:55people are

12:56curious when you appear on Russian state

12:59TV or other shows do you receive payment

13:01for this appearances

13:04i receive as much money from the Russian

13:06government as I receive from you i'm not

13:09talking about the Russian state per se i

13:11mean specifically shows on RT Cell of

13:13Your Life Russia One and others do they

13:15pay you for your participation in those

13:18broadcasts well I have to get a better

13:20agent because I get no money i've never

13:22asked for money they've never offered me

13:24money nor would I take money to appear

13:26on i am an independent analyst and when

13:30I'm asked to come on a show and talk

13:31about issues such as your show I was

13:34requested to come on here i do so freely

13:36of my own free will not because of any u

13:39you know economic benefit or um

13:42compulsion well thank you very much i

13:44hope to see you again on TV Rain Mr rita

13:47that was Scottita former US Marine

13:49Corpse intelligence officer on the air