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“Ukraine Is a Tool for the West to Bring Down Russia” — Ex-US Intel Officer Scott Ritter

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34,530 views Apr 11, 2025

In this interview, former U.S. Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter shares his controversial perspective on the war in Ukraine. He discusses why he believes Ukraine is being used by the West to weaken Russia, and how history, geopolitics, and intelligence shape the current conflict. Ritter also addresses criticism over his appearances on Russian state media and says he doesn’t take money for them.

Transcript

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

13:51of TV Rain

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