Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused the West of trying to disintegrate Russia through a defeat by pumping money and weapons to Ukraine.
In an op-ed in the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, claimed that if Russia is pushed to the brink of disintegration, Russia would just not care about the entire human civilization as no need to have one without Russia.
"There should be no ambiguity here: We don’t need a world without Russia", the 57-year old wrote in the op-ed.
The article is available in full here.
The op-ed comes days after he wrote on his Telegram account that Russia should push back the borders of neighboring states, including the frontiers of NATO member Poland in order to ensure peace for itself (Any encroachment on Poland’s borders would bring Russia for the first time into direct conflict with NATO).
In his state-of-the-nation speech last week, the Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of a nuclear arms treaty with the US.
He later claimed in an televised interview that NATO has already been involved in the conflict by “sending tens of billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine”. He said NATO - which could soon see Sweden and Finland become new members - represents an existential threat to Russia.
US President Joe Biden has called Russia's decision to suspend the New Start treaty a big mistake and reiterated the US commitment to the military alliance.
"Article 5 is a sacred commitment the United States has made. We will defend literally every inch of NATO," he said. Article 5 stipulates that an attack on any member state is treated as an attack on all and requires a joint response.
