Janice R. Andrews
(Reuters) – On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia, delivered a severe warning, saying that Ukraine’s NATO membership would be equivalent to a declaration of war against Moscow. The serious geopolitical sensitivities surrounding a hypothetical NATO expansion and the significant consequences of doing so are highlighted by Medvedev’s remarks.
The current deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, stressed in a recent interview with Argumenty I Fakty that only “prudence” on the side of NATO could avert devastating consequences for the world. Following their meeting last week, leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) promised to assist Ukraine in pursuing a “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.” The summit did not, however, specify when Ukraine might become a member.
One of the leading hawks in the Kremlin, Sergey Medvedev, was forthright about what joining NATO would mean for Ukraine. “This, in essence, would be a declaration of war – albeit with a delay,” he stated. He emphasised that Russia sees such moves as direct threats to its security and said that NATO will reach a “point of no return” if it continues to expand towards Russia’s borders.
Reinforcing a Kremlin narrative that has been in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Medvedev asserted that although Russia does not aim to pose a threat to NATO, it will take serious action in response to what it considers to be the alliance’s provocations. “The more such attempts there are, the harsher our answers will become,” he stated. With his statement that NATO’s caution will determine whether the earth is “shattered into pieces,” Medvedev alluded to the possibility of widespread disaster.
During his presidency from 2008 to 2012, Medvedev was viewed as a pro-Western modernizer; however, since then, he has taken a far more aggressive position. He has consistently alerted the US and its allies to the possibility that their arms-related assistance for Ukraine could trigger a “nuclear apocalypse.”
In addition, Medvedev emphasised that Mark Rutte’s nomination to lead NATO would not change the organization’s core principles. “For Russia, nothing will change, since key decisions are made not by NATO member countries, but by one state – the United States,” he said.
Several Eastern European nations have joined NATO over the years since it was founded as a deterrent against a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe following World War Two. The Kremlin, which sees this growth as a calculated intrusion on its sphere of influence, has taken issue with it.
Medvedev’s remarks are a sobering reminder of how brittle and unstable foreign relations are in the area as the situation develops. The whole community is keeping a careful eye on events because it knows that what NATO and Russia decide to do in the upcoming months might have a significant impact on world stability.
