Former Russian President and Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev has stated that Russia will “disappear” if it loses the war in Ukraine.
“If Russia stops the special military operation without achieving victory, Russia will disappear, it will be torn to pieces,” Medvedev said in a Telegram post on Wednesday February 22, using the euphemism for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “If the US stops supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime, the war will end.”
Medvedev’s comments come after US President Joe Biden’s speech in Poland on Tuesday.
During his speech, Biden said, “If Russia stopped invading Ukraine, it would end the war. If Ukraine stopped defending itself against Russia, it would be the end of Ukraine,” which Medvedev claimed was “a refined lie.”
“Why does he appeal to the people of another country at a time when he is full of domestic problems? With what fright should we listen to a politician from a hostile state that exudes hatred for our Motherland? Why should the citizens of Russia believe the leader of the United States, who unleashed the most wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, but reproach us for aggressiveness?” Medvedev said, adding Biden’s aim is “to ensure that Russia suffers a “strategic defeat.”
Medvedev also commented on Putin’s state of the nation address on Tuesday, in particular an announcement that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.
He called it “an overdue and inevitable decision.”
“This is a decision that will have a huge resonance in the world in general and in the United States in particular,” Medvedev added.
“After all, it is obvious to all reasonable forces that if the United States wants Russian defeat, then we are on the verge of a world conflict,” he continued. “If the United States wants to defeat Russia, then we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including nuclear.”