Ukraine expert: If there is no Russian invasion, Western credibility may be affected

Oleksiy Semeniy, director for the Institute for Global Transformations in Kyiv, on Monday said in an interview that if a Russian invasion of Ukraine does not occur as Western powers have been warning, then the credibility of some governments may be impacted.

Appearing on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Semeniy pointed out that outlets in Western media have already reported a “fixed” date” of Feb. 15 or 16 as the date of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on social media Monday he had been informed that Wednesday will be the date when the Russian invasion begins. He has previously accused Western governments of inflaming the situation and inciting panic.

Zelensky’s office later said that the president was not being literal in his comments and Wednesday would be a “day of unity.”

“I hope it will not happen and let’s imagine it had not happened. Then automatically, if it had not happened, the automatic question will be to all of the Western leaders — to some extent media or intelligence — ‘What the hell?’ ” Semeniy said.

“You actually stated that the invasion will happen. The invasion did not happen, so it will be the issue of credibility,” he added.

Semeniy said that the absence of an invasion by Russia may actually “provoke” Western powers to want something to happen in order to not “lose face” and maintain credibility.

According to Semeniy, the recent rhetoric and predictions of an invasion from the U.S. have likely served to increase the chances of a Russian invasion occurring.

Watch part of Semeniy’s interview above.