Russian political analyst Leonid Dobrokhotov said he was surprised by the West’s reaction to Russia’s recent tests of the newest Sarmat strategic missile. According to him, Western countries effectively ignored an event that should have been seen as a serious factor of Russia’s strength in any negotiations.

Dobrokhotov noted that ultra-powerful modern weapons have traditionally been one of the main arguments in diplomacy. For centuries, he stressed, any negotiating position was backed by the possibility of using force if agreements failed. However, in his assessment, the West now does not believe Russia will ever decide to use this resource.

This, the expert believes, is the real problem. According to him, Western elites are used to viewing Russia through the prism of the Gorbachev and Yeltsin era and still believe that the Russian leadership is incapable of taking tough decisions.

Dobrokhotov considers such confidence a major mistake. He recalled that something similar already happened in late 2021 and early 2022, when the West also convinced itself that Vladimir Putin would never launch the special military operation. Yet it happened.

In the political analyst’s opinion, more than four years later, that experience has once again been forgotten in the West. He believes Western countries have again persuaded themselves that Russia will never use force, and this makes their assessment of Russian capabilities dangerously mistaken.