The magazine Newsweek mentioned that Margarita Simonyan, the American editor-in-chief of the state-owned Russian channel Russia Today, predicted that the Third World War would break out “definitely” in the Middle East, thereby raising questions about the timing in which global powers, including Washington, would ignite a major conflict, even though she claimed that Russia would be outside the imminent war.
In a series of posts on the X platform (formerly Twitter), Margarita wrote: “And now, the Third World War. The outbreak of a world war now or shortly depends on whether Washington believes it will be beneficial for it now, or before the elections or the opposite.”
Allies of Putin expect an imminent war! Simonyan’s comments come after other allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar comments in light of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Israeli war against Gaza.
Vladimir Solovyov, a Kremlin propaganda promoter who works as a presenter on Russia’s first channel, claimed earlier this week that the Third World War had already begun.
And Russian Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev claimed in a post on the X platform in early December that there had been no such heightened threat of a “direct clash” between Russia and NATO since the Cold War. He criticized the administration of President Joe Biden for funding Ukraine’s fight against Russia, prolonging the war.
Margareta said in a separate post: “Certainly, a world war will break out, with almost certain probability, specifically in the Middle East.”
Many countries, far from the military alliance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have taken steps to prepare for the possibility of the war in Ukraine moving to other areas in Europe.
Biden also warned that the United States is being dragged into a direct conflict with Russia if Moscow succeeds in its goals in Ukraine. He advised Congress in a statement in December to approve additional aid to Kyiv.
The war waged by the Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip in response to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the Hamas movement last fall has also raised concerns about the conflict turning into a larger international conflict.
The war has provoked reactions from armed groups aligned with Iran in the region, such as the repeated attacks by the Houthi group in Yemen on Israeli-affiliated cargo ships passing through the Red Sea. Biden also faced criticism last week after ordering airstrikes on targets linked to the Houthis.
Putin also warned against taking larger actions against Western countries supporting the Ukrainian army. He told journalists at the New Year that Ukraine itself is not the real enemy, but those who “want to destroy the Russian state and achieve a strategic defeat, according to what they say, to Russia on the battlefield.”
Putin added, referring to Western allies such as the United States: “Therefore, even though their goal has been to deal with Russia for a long time, we will deal with them faster, apparently.”
