Dmitry Polyanskiy has spent a career doing exactly that, which is what makes this conversation so unsettling, because one of Russia's most measured voices has stopped speaking in euphemisms.
The veteran of Russia's UN mission, now representing Moscow at the OSCE, says plainly that Russia and Europe are on the brink of direct military confrontation, describing a line so thin that the two militaries are "already looking at each other through the crosshairs."
In his telling, the window that opened after the Alaska summit has closed.
He argues that European elites, not their citizens, deliberately undermined the negotiating track, that Ukrainian drone production has migrated onto European soil, and he points to claims, which he himself admits still need verification, that recent strikes on St. Petersburg were launched from NATO territory.
Follow his logic one step further and you arrive at the most dangerous idea in the interview: if attacks come from inside NATO, Moscow believes it has every right to strike those locations directly.
Then the final question.
Which is more likely, the war ending or direct NATO-Russia conflict?
A career diplomat who calls himself an optimist pauses, and bets on the military scenario.
@Dpol_un
0:01:03 - Polyanskiy says Europe killed the best chance for a Ukraine peace deal
0:05:02 - Claims NATO territory is now part of Ukraine's drone war against Russia
0:06:32 - Russia and NATO described as one step away from direct conflict
0:08:09 - Could Russian strikes on NATO-based drone factories come next?
0:10:19 - One incident could ignite a Russia-NATO confrontation
0:12:02 - No real diplomacy is happening behind closed doors, says Polyanskiy
0:13:12 - Europe accused of preparing its population for war with Russia
0:14:03 - Russia's case for why the war began long before 2022
0:19:51 - Why European elites allegedly see Ukraine as a tool against Russia
0:22:04 - Claims Ukraine is paying the price for a larger geopolitical struggle
0:23:29 - Ordinary Europeans, Russians, and Ukrainians all want peace, he argues
0:24:41 - Polyanskiy challenges Europe's narrative on values and Ukraine
0:27:24 - Peace or war? Polyanskiy says conflict looks more likely
0:28:07 - Germany's military revival raises alarms in Moscow
0:29:13 - Conscription, rearmament, and why Russia sees Europe preparing for war
