Only Russia’s victory in Ukraine to safeguard against global conflict — Medvedev

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev
©Yekaterina Shtukina/POOL/TASS

Only Russia’s complete and definitive victory in Ukraine will guarantee protection from a global conflict, to which the West is pushing the world, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"Let's call a spade a spade. Western countries are pushing the world to a global war. Only the complete and final victory of Russia will be a safeguard against a world conflict," he said in response to the Western countries’ frequent speculations to the effect "Russia cannot be allowed to win the war."

Medvedev invited his subscribers to follow "simple formal logic."

"If it is not Russia that is expected to win, then, apparently, it is Ukraine. Ukraine’s aim in the war, proclaimed by the Kiev regime, is the retaking of all territories that previously belonged to it. In other words, their annexation from Russia. This is a threat to the existence of our state and the collapse of today's Russia," he stated.

Medvedev concluded that such a possibility was a direct reason for using paragraph 19 of the fundamental principles of Russia’s state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence.

"Who is planning a nuclear conflict in reality, may I ask? What is this, if not a direct provocation of a world war with the use of nuclear weapons?" he said.

According to paragraph 19 of the mentioned document, the conditions under which Russia may use nuclear weapons are reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles attacking the territories of Russia or its allies, the enemy’s use of nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction on the territories of Russia and its allies, the enemy’s impact on Russia’s critical state or military facilities whose failure will incapacitate the retaliatory nuclear forces. In addition, paragraph 19 mentions among these conditions an act of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons endangering the very existence of the state, which Medvedev mentioned in his post.