Russian Official Threatens War if Ukraine Becomes NATO Member

(RightWing.org) – Russian politician Dmitry Medvedev has a longstanding working relationship with Vladimir Putin dating back to the early 1990s. With Putin’s endorsement, he served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012 and prime minister from 2012 to 2020. He currently holds the positions of Chairman of the United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, making him a prominent figure in Russian politics. Medvedev recently threatened war if Ukraine became a NATO member.

On July 17, the Russian daily newspaper Argumenty i Fakty (AiF) published an exclusive interview with Medvedev regarding Ukraine’s history with NATO and its current aim of joining that Western alliance. Medvedev argued that NATO’s expansion, particularly its involvement in Ukraine, has created tension between NATO and Russia. He likened the current situation to a boiling pot about to explode.

Medvedev didn’t mince words regarding his opinion about Ukraine’s prospects with NATO. He said Russia had warned NATO since it started dabbling in Ukrainian affairs in 2008 that the country’s membership in NATO was “not just a direct threat to Russia’s national interests. It [was] essentially a declaration of war.”

Continuing, Medvedev claimed that the Western alliance didn’t take that warning/threat seriously. Instead, they have tried to whittle away at Russia’s defenses for years, “expanding the alliance and nurturing Kyiv’s neo-Nazis.” However, he predicted the wartorn country would “never become” a NATO member.

Nevertheless, he warned that any “attempts by the hostile bloc [NATO] to advance its selfish interests” on Ukraine or any other countries with longstanding ties with Moscow would “continue to face” a suitable Russian response.

“The more such attempts occur,” Medvedev said, “the tougher [Russia’s] responses will be. Setting aside any pretense of Russian tolerance for Western meddling, he said, “Whether the entire planet will be torn to shreds depends solely on the prudence of that side,” a reference to NATO.

Medvedev concluded that portion of the interview by comparing NATO leaders’ current behavior to that of a “chaotic dance of the undead, infernal corpses [dancing] on the brink of a hellish abyss.”