Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the only way for Moscow to secure a lasting peace with Ukraine is to reduce borders with hostile states as much as possible, even if that means pushing over the border with Ukraine. Poland, member of NATO.
Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments in a message on his Telegram account on the exact one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in what Moscow called a “special military operation” to protect Russian speakers and ensure their own safety.
Ukraine says it is defending itself against an unprovoked colonial-style war of aggression and has vowed to retake all of its own territory by force, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Medvedev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, predicted on Friday that Russia would emerge victorious and that some kind of loose deal would end the fighting.
“Victory will be achieved. We all want it to happen as soon as possible. And that day will come,” Medvedev said. He predicted that difficult negotiations with Ukraine and the West would follow, culminating in “some kind of deal”.
But he said the resolution would lack what he called “fundamental agreements on real borders” and would not amount to a comprehensive European security pact, making it vital for Russia to extend its own borders now.
“That is why it is so important to achieve all objectives of the special military operation. Reduce as much as possible the borders that threaten our country, even if it is the border with Poland,” said Medvedev.
Poland shares long eastern borders with Ukraine and Russia’s ally Belarus, and a roughly 200km border in its northeast corner with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Any invasion of Poland’s borders will bring Russia into direct conflict with NATO for the first time. US President Joe Biden pledged in a speech in Warsaw this week to defend “every inch” of NATO territory should it come under attack.
Source: CNN Brasil
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