Russian State TV Guest Admits Country 'Underestimated' U.S.

A professor at Moscow State University has admitted that Russia underestimated U.S. resolve as he urged the Kremlin to set clearly defined goals for the war in Ukraine.

The comments by Andrey Sidorov, deputy dean of world politics at the university, have gone viral on social media. A video of Sidorov discussing the war on Russian state TV, posted on Monday by the Daily Beast's Julia Davis, has already been viewed more than 200,000 times.

In the clip, Sidorov calls on Russia to set realistic war goals and makes clear that Russia taking on the United States should not be one of them. He admitted that Moscow had been taken by surprise by the West's unity in resisting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"What do we currently perceive as our victory? With respect to the special military operation, it's simple," he said, saying it would be the "liberation" of the four Ukrainian regions that President Vladimir Putin has annexed. "We've even exceeded the plan."

"We say that we are fighting against the West and NATO, so is our goal to take Brussels? We should clearly define our victory over the West."

"I don't think our victory means to take Washington," he said, adding that this would entall "destroying half the planet in the process."

"I think that our main goal is to conclude the special military operation," he said, using the Russian term for the Ukraine war.

He also suggested that Donald Trump's term as president, and even the COVID pandemic, had given Russia a breathing space to prepare its economy for the wave of sanctions it is facing now over the Ukraine war.

"Trump gave us four years, realistically, having shot down all sanctions, Trump had given us four years to get ready for what is happening right now."

"If it was Hillary Clinton, I am 100 per cent convinced everything would have started four years ago."

During his term in office, Trump often appeared reluctant to increase sanctions on Russia, though he did sign into law sanctions agreed by Congress.

"Meanwhile in Russia: Top Kremlin propagandists ponder what their victory would look like and express their gratitude to Trump and the coronavirus for allowing their economy to survive the sanctions and be able to handle Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Davis wrote as a caption to the video.

Sidorov said Russia was doing a lot to improve its war effort and had concluded the draft of reservists, but he conceded "perhaps we underestimated the adversary."

"No one anticipated such a consolidation of the West and that Americans would be able to pull it off."

He went on to discuss the confidence Russia felt about the political turmoil in America around the 2020 election.

"[We said] 'Oh, they're about to fall apart. The reds vs the blues, 24 states against 26 states. Some governors are Republican, some are Democrats.

"First, we have to win within our country and then we can talk about defeating them.

"According to all indications, the U.S. is economically preparing to become the great arsenal of democracy," he said.

Sidorov also highlighted his concerns of Russia falling behind the U.S. and China in an arms race in the coming years as he emphasized the importance of economic growth.

"In the foreseeable future, what the president has been saying for 10 years, what is coming in the years 2030-2035 is the conclusion of all rearmament programs, both the American and Chinese," he said.

"All rearmament programs have been sped up, [Chinese President] Xi Jinping said they'll have it all by 2027. Now the United States will speed it up too.

"The matter before us is very serious, we have to rebuild our economy very quickly."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.