Russia could use the terrorist attack both to escalate the war and to improve relations with the West - Andzans

RIGA - Russia could use the terrorist attack at a concert hall near Moscow on Friday both to escalate the war in Ukraine and to improve relations with the West, Maris Andzans, Director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies, told LETA.

He notes that it is currently difficult to predict what the consequences of this event will be. Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to link the terrorists to Ukraine in his speech, and it is likely that a large part of the Russian population believed or will believe this version, but for the time being it is difficult to draw a conclusion about further Russian actions.

It is also unclear at this stage whether Russia has the capacity to increase the scale of its war activities in Ukraine, because Ukraine is in defensive positions.

Andzans points out that Russia could also use the terrorist attack as a situation to improve relations with the West, pointing to the need for cooperation between Russia and other countries, as terrorism is a common enemy for all.

The terrorist attack also makes Russia look a little more human and people in Europe sympathize with it, Andzans added.