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Moscow will without fail carry out a strike against foreign military bases in Ukraine should any be established in the country, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram.
Referring to the declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine drawn up by the EU, he stated that the document was "a useless scrap of paper" with no added value.
However, it provided Kiev with the opportunity to make separate agreements with individual countries on weapons supplies, troop training, funding for military programs and many other things, up to and including the establishment of military bases on Ukrainian soil.
"This is the game plan: We won’t let you join NATO as we don’t want a war with Russia, but there are no holds barred when it comes to relations with individual (NATO member countries). In fact, the question now is how they will interpret Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. In other words, when Russia (eventually) carries out a strike on such a base (which is inevitable given that troops stationed at such a base will have been deployed there specifically to fight against us), will the allies (acting together) then be prepared to give a collective response to our country for the destruction of a base set up by (an individual) NATO member state?" the politician asked rhetorically.
Medvedev pointed out that an attack on a military base would certainly provide grounds for activating Article 6 of NATO’s founding treaty, which mentions "an armed attack... on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties." "This is where things get more interesting: Article 5 says that the response does not have to be a military or a collective one," he noted. The Russian Security Council deputy chairman emphasized that a response to such actions included the use of "the right of individual or collective self-defense" by the allies to "assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary." "That said, it’s possible either to respond together or leave the owner of Ukraine-sited bases to its own devices. A response may or may not include the use of military means. So there should be no illusions; it’s a loose loophole, and the mongrel Banderite regime should bear that in mind," Medvedev concluded.
The 14-article North Atlantic Treaty, commonly known as the Washington Treaty, was signed in 1949, thus laying the foundations for the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The principle of collective defense, enshrined in Article 5 of the Treaty, obligates the NATO allies to come to each other’s defense in case of attack.
Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, called Kiev’s plan to convince the EU to provide it with security guarantees a new push “to create an anti-Russian consensus.”
At the same time, he suggested that the declaration “has no added value whatsoever.” “This is just a public statement, which means it is a useless scrap of paper,” he said.
According to Medvedev, however, the document paves the way for the signing of bilateral security agreements between Kiev and its Western backers. Those deals could lead to arms production cooperation, military training, and other programs beneficial to the “neo-Nazis” in Kiev, he said.
Such a deal could even entice some “crazy” Western country to set up a military base in Ukraine, he added. “Here’s the drill: we won’t take you into NATO, we don’t want war with Russia, but on an individual basis, do whatever you like.”
This could open the way to a large-scale conflict involving a NATO country and Moscow, Medvedev believes. “When Russia strikes such a base – and this will inevitably happen because the military personnel of the base came specifically to fight us – will the alliance countries be ready for a collective response?” he asked.
The ex-president suggested that in this particular case Article 5 of the NATO Treaty – which stipulates that an attack on one member of the bloc is an attack on the entire alliance – leaves “a lot of wiggle room.” NATO could “respond together, or could leave the country that owns the base in Ukraine to go at it alone,” while the retaliation itself could be by military or other means.
The ex-president’s comments come after Andrey Sibiga, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, said that six EU members – Austria, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Malta – have yet to support security guarantees for Kiev, adding that he was sure that they would eventually get on board.
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