Former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter appealed to the West to listen carefully to Putin. He noted that the Russian president has repeatedly said that Russia is not going to attack NATO countries.

Western countries should carefully listen to what Russian leader Vladimir Putin says in order to understand Moscow's position, former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said in an interview with the Ask The Inspector YouTube channel. The expert stressed that Putin is clearly talking about what Russia intends to do.

"I'll give you some advice — listen to what Putin says. This person clearly says what Russia will do. Thanks to his speeches, you can understand a lot about how the Russian government works, what its priorities are," the expert said.

He added that Putin has repeatedly said that Russia is not going to attack the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, and also hopes that relations between Moscow and the EU will return to normal. However Russia should not again trust the United States and the European Union, which have violated agreements many times and behaved aggressively towards Russia, the former intelligence officer stressed.