An interesting comparison is to consider the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the US was prepared to start a nuclear war because the USSR put nuclear missiles within 1200 miles of Washington, and the current one, where Ukraine in NATO would put US nuclear missiles within 300 miles of Moscow. How did they expect Russia to react ?
What I found interesting in the interview was the vast cultural gulf. I suspect a lot of the interview will go over the heads of a Western audience used to a snappy back and forth with concepts dumbed down to their absolute simplest form. If I've understood the Russian mindset correctly, then understanding the historical context means you should be able to work out (and actually understand) the answer to the question yourself. I guess they still teach critical thinking over there.....