A close ally of Vladimir Putin has turned up the heat on the West with a fiery rant in which he insisted Ukraine “was part of Russia” – and claimed tensions now are worse than during the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis.
Dmitry Medvedev, who served as President of Russia himself between 2008 and 2012, made his incendiary remarks during a lecture at the World Youth Festival in Moscow.
During his talk he illustrated his point with a map showing the bulk of Ukrainian territory as part of Russia, and most of the rest split between Poland, Moldova, and Romania.
Medvedev also shared a photoshopped picture of French President Emmanuel Macron with a black eye and a tooth knocked out, prompting laughter from the audience.
In remarks reported by state-aligned news agency Tass, Medvedev, referring to the stand-off between the US and USSR almost 60 years ago: said: “I’ll say one bitter thing that today’s situation is much worse than the 1962 crisis.
“This is a full-out war being waged against Russia using US weapons and involving US special task forces and US advisors. And we are witnessing similar attempts in Moldova and Central Asian countries.
Fortunately, Central Asian governments show restraint and wisdom as they understand everything only too well and pursue far-sighted policies.
Turning his attention to the war currently raging in central Europe as a result of Putin’s decision to invade on February 24, 2022, Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, even went as far as to suggest Ukraine did not even have a right to exist.
He declared: “One of the former Ukrainian leaders said once that Ukraine was not Russia. This concept must disappear forever. Ukraine certainly is Russia.
The people of Russia “rightfully regards Ukraine and its population as part of our all-Russian civilisation. he insisted.
He added: “Had Ukraine escaped the stupidest trap set by the United States and its allies in order to counter our country with Ukraine’s assistance and use this very ‘anti-Russia entity,’ things might have been different.
“Had the Kiev ringleaders fulfilled the realistic conditions of the Minsk Agreements at some point, then, perhaps, there would have been no need for the special military operation, as our president has rightly observed.”
Medvedev, who has made multiple controversial claims in recent months, including touting the use of nuclear weapons, also hinted that Russia was would continue to its quest to expand its borders.
He explained: “The more powerful a nation is, the further its strategic frontiers extend beyond its state borders, and the larger is the strategic space on which such a country exerts economic, political, social and cultural influence.
“This is the zone of the nations’ national interests.”
With reference to the Roman Empire, he said: “The strong powers, which played the first fiddle in world international relations, offered their followers military and political protection and simultaneously tried to prevent the growth of influence of their rivals.
“Weak nations, or those that had come to the end of their glory and power, often fit into such regional schemes and became puppet or vassal countries for their patrons or suzerains, sovereigns. Or, as they later began to say, friendly nations, which is actually the same thing, but less offensive.”
