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On war, Ukraine, Russia, energy and Libya let’s face it all. Crosetto speaks

On war, Ukraine, Russia, energy and Libya let's face it all. Crosetto speaks

What Guido Crosetto, president of Aiad (Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace, Defense and Security) said about war, Ukraine, Russia, energy, Libya and more.

The world as we have known it so far may no longer exist. What we face will be a new world, more violent, which jeopardizes the well-being to which the Western world has become accustomed in the last half century and in which it will be necessary to make one's way with difficulty. This is the thought of Guido Crosetto , entrepreneur, president of AIAD (Federation of Italian Companies for Aerospace, Defense and Security) and former coordinator and deputy of the Brothers of Italy, expressed today during the Omnibus program on La7 .

The military difficulties of Ukraine

"It is clear that Russia has logistical problems and therefore difficulties in supplying food, fuel, weapons, spare parts and everything else needed in a campaign of this type – underlined Crosetto -. There is another theme: the gaze with which Putin looks at Ukraine is totally different from the one with which we look at it. After the “I do everything in three days” phase, doing everything in a month or two months doesn't change anything. At this point, every day that passes is a day that we Westerners think of more weakness for Russia, in reality every day that passes, if no one helps them, is one more day of weakness for Ukraine because the same problems of logistics that we detect for Russia we must calculate them on the other side for Ukraine ”. Just as we must be considered being hunted, surrounded by the Russian army. " The Russians are surrounding them and once they have surrounded time it plays on their side because people inside these enclaves are people closed to the rest of the world – added the former Undersecretary of Defense in the Berlusconi government -. At that point the Russians can develop their attack which will not look anyone in the face, will have no mercy ”.

Putin's ruthless approach to war

The Russian military strategy , at the moment, used almost exclusively ground forces. “They haven't used even 1% of their missile arsenal and their chance of doing harm by bombing. We talked a lot about chemical weapons, if they have to use chemical weapons they will use them – added Crosetto -. Putin's approach to war, including civilian victims, is completely different from that of Westerners. So the images, the news, the things that affect us these days can only explode in the next few days ".

The Russian military potential: the risk of chemical weapons

The Russian military has a much larger and larger destructive potential than we have seen so far. “The possibilities of increasing the level of attack by Russia are appalling – added Crosetto -. The possibility that Russia has to launch missiles and carry out air strikes has hardly been used so far ”. The attacks on civilian buildings would not be errors but they are part of a precise strategy to “make Ukraine morally surrender and force the president or whoever commands Ukraine to consider surrendering. They have not been used for now but I think the next step will be chemical bombs. Putin called the butchers of Aleppo, there are Chechens ”.

The change of mentality required of the West

Europe found itself surprised by the ruthless coldness of Russia in the war against Ukraine. “We have a Western and sometimes, in quotation marks, romantic view of war. Instead the war is cruel and Putin interprets it with a coldness to which we are no longer used mentally but it is so – remarked Crosetto -. On a collective level, a very rapid change of mentality is required of us in the coming days because we are speaking with a person who speaks another language. Of course when everything is over we can make speeches on the mistakes of the past, from 2010, 2014, 2008 from 2000 if we want to go back, since Biden himself was reflecting on the errors of NATO enlargement, we can make all the reflections we want among a few month , but today those reflections do not serve us, today we need to understand what we must do to stop this war, let humanitarian corridors set up to save as many people as possible and on the other hand understand what is the maximum point of arrival that can have the 'west because Punti does not stop ”.

The advance of the Russian army

The Ukrainian resistance, however valiant and courageous, does not have the possibility, in the long term, of resisting the advance of Putin's army. “ In this battle, who will be the final winner, given the forces on the field and the weapons available, is very clear . We do not know if in a week, two months, three years but Putin does not care, just as Syria did not care. The point of arrival is that ".

Crosetto: "We have forgotten the word war, we don't want to hear it"

The Western bloc, Europe and the US, are called upon to decide what role to play in this tragedy. “There is a way of moving to which you have to respond, unfortunately the answers are not always those of sitting at a table and clapping each other on the back, sometimes they are complex. Today we are faced with an answer that must be more complex and that challenges us in a very short time and in a violent way. It is a tragedy for us because we have abolished the word "war", we have abolished the word "suffering" , none of us want to hear it ". So far we have offered them weapons, but those we have offered so far do not allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves – explained Crosetto -. In fact, the Ukrainians are asking for planes, missile batteries, tanks. All things, among other things former Soviet, which are what they know how to use, starting from the mig to be able to defend themselves. The next step that the West will be asked to supply will be to supply this type of weapons, not only those that have been supplied, in addition to the rifles, because those are also missing, along with ammunition ”.

What China says and does not say according to Crosetto

Yesterday National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office Yang Jiechi in Rome . The post-summit declarations were extremely concise and left no room for prospects of a decisive turning point. " What happened yesterday between China and the US is certainly not a good omen – underlined the president of the president of" Orizzonte Sistemi Navali "-. Even if the news is not official. We only know that China has not said no to the Russian arms demand. And this is one of the points that most challenges the West. I am more worried every day and I see the road that narrows and I glimpse, and I say this with great sadness, as a point of arrival a much more direct intervention from the West. If it continues like this, if no factor intervenes to change what is happening ”.

All the errors of Italian foreign policy according to Crosetto

The former Undersecretary of Defense also made an examination of what he considers mistakes made by our country in matters of foreign policy. “ We lost Libya without realizing it, there were few idiots who claimed the importance of not waging war in Libya, I was one of them. And we don't realize that Putin has been in Africa for some time with the Chinese, and Libya and Africa are closer to us than Ukraine ”. Opinion on foreign policy in recent years is by no means positive. " We have done foreign policy so far arguing with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt , perhaps for noble reasons but for years I have been saying that it was necessary to distinguish those who killed Regeni from the Government of Egypt because no one he judged Italy for the carabinieri who killed Cucchi, we judged those carabinieri not the state – remarked Crosetto forcefully -. Eni has discovered the largest Mediterranean gas field in Egypt ".

The necessary realpolitik

After all, the administration of a country requires a realpolitik approach that may not please but may be necessary. “We don't have a multi-year energy plan, we don't have resources – warned Crosetto -. Once there was a plan that provided for stocks in all sectors , from agriculture to energy, in recent years we have also abandoned this strategic capacity that every company has, every company has a risk manager. At the state level it does not exist . We thought the world was a bucolic place to live and try to compete economically. We have found that the world is not bucolic that reality can be difficult and dramatic.

Errors in energy policy

Errors, according to Crosetto, have also been made in the field of energy policy, which is closely intertwined with foreign policy. “ We used to do energy policy. Russia was one of the supply points , then there was the TAP, then there was Algeria, Libya and then other roads were opening up – continues Crosetto -. But just as we were coming full circle and would be the most energy independent country in Europe that government fell and the war in Libya began. Some things that everyone applauded are actually dramatic today ”.

How will the PNRR change?

For our economy, this conflict can be even worse than the pandemic because it increases the risk of social tensions. “The other effect, as Macron said, may be that of the lack of food for the poorest countries and future migrations – added Crosetto -. The sum of all these things leads us to envision a future of economic weakness. This is why the PNRR makes little sense and little value now . Another consequence of what we are experiencing will be new investments in armaments, the Germans did it immediately. The fact that the world has changed will lead to changes of this kind ”.


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/su-guerra-ucraina-russia-energia-e-libia-diciamoci-tutto-parla-crosetto/ on Tue, 15 Mar 2022 13:09:06 +0000.