Russia's Foreign Intelligence Chief Warns of 'Quite Real' Risk of Wide-Scale Conflict Across Eurasia
SVR head Sergey Naryshkin said the risk of a large-scale conflict spreading across Eurasia is "quite real," blaming Western leaders' embrace of a Cold War-era escalation strategy and pointing to the EU's defense plans naming Russia as the main threat.
The head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has said that the risk of a large-scale conflict spreading across the whole of Eurasia is "quite real," calling it cause for "the most serious concern." His remarks were reported by Russia's state news agency TASS.
Naryshkin spoke at the 22nd meeting of the Conference of Heads of Security Agencies and Intelligence Services of CIS Countries. He claimed European leaders are relying on a strategy of "controlled escalation" — a brinkmanship approach he said was developed by Western intelligence services during the Cold War.
An escalation mechanism
According to Naryshkin, propaganda mechanisms set in motion by politicians create such a rigid worldview that the politicians themselves end up trapped by it. He argued that overall tension can build to a point where even a minor incident could collapse the entire system, leaving diplomacy powerless and pushing countries into what he called total war.
He pointed to the European Union's defense strategy, adopted in 2025, which calls for readiness for a large-scale armed conflict by 2030 and identifies Russia as the primary threat.
Society's readiness and motives
Naryshkin said European society is not prepared for a war with Russia, describing it instead as "too coddled and depraved." He alleged that politicians and corporations are exploiting the perceived threat from the East to justify a sharp rise in military spending, shift industries toward military production, and modernize armed forces along with road and port infrastructure.
He called on the security and intelligence services of CIS countries to strengthen their collective security system without waiting for the escalation spiral in Eurasia to reach its limit. As an example of successfully defusing an escalation spiral, Naryshkin cited the Cuban Missile Crisis.
