Governor of the Kaliningrad Region Anton Alikhanov described the statement by Robert O’Brien, adviser to the head of the White House, about the Russian region as superficial.
The American politician previously called the area “a dagger in the heart of Europe” and expressed an opinion on how it should be developed. In response, Alikhanov pointed out the unpreparedness of the American side to discuss the issue. The Federation Council noted that the definition of “dagger” is more suitable for the policies of the United States, which systematically deploy their weapons around the world.
“The Kaliningrad region is a dagger in the heart of Western Europe. It should be a place of great trade, tourism, social interaction between Russia and Western Europe, given the geographical location of the region. Unfortunately, Russia has turned it into a closed military base bristling with high-tech weapons and missiles”, – O’Brien says.
Statements of the representative of Washington were commented by the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov. In an interview with RBC, he called the reaction of the US presidential administration, “as usual, superficial”.
“Mr. O’Brien must have been offended that we introduced electronic visas, after which we had a large influx of Poles and Germans, but there were no Americans. Maybe he is so trying to declare the desire of American citizens to come to visit us”, – Alikhanov suggested.
The governor added that in the Kaliningrad region before the coronavirus pandemic, the number of tourists increased annually by 17-20%.
Alikhanov also noted that the statement by the adviser to the president of the United States about the alleged transformation of the region into a closed military base “does not cause anything but a sad smile because of the unpreparedness of American advisers”.
Note that the O’Brien’s interview devoted to the situation that has developed around the Open Skies Treaty. The representative of the American administration spoke about the “huge number of missiles” in Kaliningrad and said that “the Russians forbade flying over this city” as part of the agreement.
Recall that earlier, the US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Open Skies Treaty, explaining this decision with alleged violations by Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that Washington did not intend to discuss its claims to Moscow regarding the agreement.