Medvedev: We will pursue our national interests by all available means

The 2008 Georgian crisis and the Ukrainian conflict are links in the same chain, they are all part of the same geopolitical process initiated by the West, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, argued in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS.

“This is a single process and a common intention against Russia,” he emphasized and continued: “It consists in the desire of the West, especially the US and other Anglo-Saxon countries, to disrupt the situation in our country. How? Through our neighbors.”

Medvedev also noted, among other things, that “now they are playing games with Ukraine, whose fate is completely indifferent to them. The goal is the same – the destruction of Russia. This is the root cause of the extremely aggressive, Russophobic geopolitical process that has begin the West”.

“Our response is tough, but carefully considered,” he stressed, and continued: Russia is conducting a special military operation in Ukraine and is seeking peace on our terms. It’s on our terms, and we need to be clear about that. And not on the terms that our former “partners” in the international community are trying to impose on us, who are hungry for a military defeat of Russia. We have our own national interests and will pursue them by all available means.

Medvedev also mentioned the possibility of a peaceful solution. “If it is possible to solve the problem peacefully, at the negotiating table, we should do it. But when there is no way out, we should react with force. Unfortunately, both in Georgia and Ukraine, the authorities of these countries did not let in Russia no other option and we consciously decided to intervene militarily.”