On July 2, 2023, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and former president of Russia, published an article, titled "The Age Of Confrontation," in the official Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In the article, Medvedev wrote that the world is in a confrontation far worse than that during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For this reason, a nuclear "apocalypse" is not only "possible," but quite "probable." After all, Medvedev wrote, nuclear weapons have already been used by the United States, therefore "there is no taboo."
Dmitri Medvedev (Photo: Ekaterina Shtukina / TASS)
Following is Medvedev's article:[1]
"Why Are Western Politicians Again Blabbing Nonsense?"
"When it seems that the whole world is against you, remember that the plane does not take off in the wind, but against it. – source unknown but attributed to Henry Ford and mentioned by Ayn Rand."
"Once again, the West has raised a white noise and continues to hurl accusations against Russia with all its might. Everyone is trying, from the senile members of the U.S. Senate, heavily sick with Russophobia, to the unstable old men in the White House. It would seem that everything has long been said and done. So, why are Western politicians again blabbing nonsense about the need for a 'strong signal' about Kiev's protectorate membership in NATO? Why do they continue to strive for peace for Ukraine only on the terms of the Nazi Kiev regime? Why so much rage after almost a year and a half of the SVO ['Spizialnayay Voennaya Operatziya' Special Military Operation in Ukraine i.e., the Russian invasion of Ukraine]?
"Naturally, our enemies, both external and internal, were hardly pleased with the result of the recent armed revolt.[2] The Russian authorities has convincingly proved their strength and resilience, and the people of the country have demonstrated their willingness to rally around Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin for the defend of the Motherland.
"On the other hand, it is unlikely that our adversaries got very upset by the seizure of the city of Artemivsk, aka Bakhmut, by our troops. The ZSU's ['Zbroini Sily Ukraini,' the Armed Forces of Ukraine] defeat on that front was a foregone conclusion. Another thing is that [the result of the] beginning of the [Ukrainian] counteroffensive was unexpected for the Western political morons. They have put too much trust in the genius of their instructors, the omnipotence of unlimited money and the power of the vaunted NATO technology.
"Nonetheless, here and there, Western officials and 'not-so-officials (but by no means less disgusting figures) say ad nauseam, 'Russia has already lost, we have won.' Why all the sudden they started to sing such 'bravura songs'? Facts are stubborn things; there is no place for illusions now. First, let us examine their arguments."
"Russia Is In Isolation, Not At All"
"1.'Russia is in isolation.' Not at all. Political contacts with Asia, Africa, and Latin America are developing quite actively. Their markets are open to us, their companies are very active in our country, despite the sanctions. The end of the era of the almighty dollar is nigh. The transition to national and digital currencies is on the agenda.
"True, ties with Europe have significantly decreased (but let's be frank, have not disappeared completely). In turn, [ties] with the global South and the equally global East, have intensified considerably. Goods from Europe that we needed have been replaced by other products. The Europeans lost our market for a very long time, their investments went down the drain, although the industries themselves remained. I want to thank them for free or seriously devalued facilities that have been taken over by Russian companies.
"The [Western] firms are 'biting their senile elbows,'[3] trying to offset losses in their balance sheets, but due to notorious political correctness and, let's be blunt here, cowardice to the overseas suzerain [i.e., the US], they keep silent, swallowing tears of lost income."
"The Russian Economy Is Collapsing, Not At All"
"2. 'The Russian economy is collapsing.' Not at all. Manufacturing growth is much higher than in Europe. Even Reuters news agency admitted that in April of 2023, Russia's manufacturing sector demonstrated a growth for 12 consecutive months. Wherein, inflation [in Russia] is much lower than that in many Western countries. It is close to a historic low of 2.9%. It will not exceed the 5% mark by the end of the year. In turn, the European Commission forecasts that inflation in the eurozone will be close to 6% in 2023. The unemployment rate in Russia is at a historical low: 3.3%.
"We record development in all sectors of the economy. According to Rosstat [the Russian Federal State Statistics Service], in March this year, industrial output increased by 1.2% compared to last March. In April, [the industrial output] already grew by 5.2%. There have been impressive results in construction [sector] too. In 2022 alone, the volume of construction work rose by 5.2%. Last year, agricultural production grew by more than 10%. And concerning all commodity positions in this sector, we cover our own needs, and we are actively developing exports.
"By the way, a dependence on agricultural products and food goods produced in our country has been recognized around the world, hence the endless chants on the 'grain deal' [i.e., Black Sea Grain Initiative]. Although it is clear to everyone that it is unnecessary in its current form and should be terminated by all means possible. We will be able to help our partners anyway, it is not our job to feed the potbellied European burghers. They have their own old and bald 'liverwurst' [i.e., German chancellor Olaf Scholz] for that, as well as a mass of highly educated gynecologists, who are brilliantly managing the European economy [a reference to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who has worked as an assistant physician at the Women's Clinic of the Hannover Medical School]."
"We Have Never Engaged In NATO Containment"
"3.'Russia wanted to contain NATO, however, the alliance expanded due to Sweden's and Finland's entry.' This is a bold lie. We have never engaged in NATO containment. It is beyond our powers and capabilities. And these two Scandinavian countries were already associated with the alliance anyway. We were always asking for one thing only: to consider our concerns and not to invite former parts of our country into NATO, especially those with which we have territorial disputes. Hence, our goal is simple – to remove the threat of Ukraine's membership in NATO. And we will achieve it... one way or another.
"Today, even the stoned leaders of the Kiev regime admitted that, while in a state of conflict, Bandera Ukraine (or whatever is customary nowadays to call its rotting remains) will not be accepted into the alliance.[4] Hence, however, comes a very simple and sad conclusion: if the conflicting countries are not accepted into NATO, it means that the conflict [in Ukraine] will be permanent, because it is a question of Russia's existence.
"So, the reasons for their resentment are obvious. Russia has not been broken; the anti-Russian front has failed. And it was not about politics, nor about strategy nor even about tactics. To simply put it, the end is very near. The final hour has come. Our eternal ideological opponents are one step away from losing what they value most of all. First and foremost, their global dominance, on which their prosperity has been based for centuries. This is why Western politicians are trying to increase the feeling of fear [in people]. But in fact, the characters of Orwell's 'Animal Farm: A Fairy Story,' the impudent English pigs and the rest of their subordinate cattle, are themselves in complete animal terror. They strive, as they have always done before, to demonstrate their power to the world. But this time, their actions are only evident to their own impotence. They create a lot of information noise, but it has, practically, no content. It is obvious: their time is up. Not even today belongs to them, let alone tomorrow. I will list three things that the Anglo-Saxon world should finally realize."
"First: The Opposition To The Collective West Has Become Global"
The years 2022-2023 will go down in history as a time of the most powerful civilizational rift, as the peak of humanity's existential crisis of the 21st century. Its direct consequence was the start of the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine. Russia was forced to undertake it to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, for the sake of the security of millions of its citizens. Our country, as we know, exercised its right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.
"The events unfolding now in Ukraine and in Donbass are not just a 'regional conflict' but something quite different. It is a total confrontation between the conventional collective West and the rest of the world. It is caused by diametrically opposed views on the further development of humanity.
"On the one side, there are the Western countries, unwilling to accept that the world has changed radically and to lose their dominance. The hybrid war they are now waging against us is their last chance to maintain a favorable status quo for themselves, i.e., not to lose their weakened power and influence. On the other side, there are not only Russia, but also the global East and South. The population of [these regions] make up almost two-thirds of the global one.
"These are countries that continue to acquire strength, gradually overcoming the economic and political consequences of their colonial past. They advocate the equal development of all countries without choosing 'senior' and 'junior' partners, without the cynical division into historically developed and poorly developed countries, without division into 'genuine' democracies and 'authoritarian regimes' (naturally, from the point of view of the West).
"Their desire for independence is much disliked by the former colonizers. They are clinging to the past with all their might. The new conflict has already caused a magnitude of more tension than during the previous cold war and extremely negative consequences. In fact, it brought the world to the brink of WWIII.
"What's more, with the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the full package of 'double standards' has once again been deployed at the U.S. suggestion. This is nothing new, everything is as usual: according to the collective West, independence and territorial integrity can be defended only by those to whom this right was been supremely granted [by the West]. The rest must be subdued, crushed, and their bloody parts should, preferably, be smeared all over their own territory. Russia did not want to recognize this logic. It did not submit to the will of others. And it fought back, harshly, and unambiguously.
"Today's new degenerate generation of Western politicians is clearly unaware of what they are doing and what they are calling for. And they seem to have forgotten what our response will be if the provocations go too far.
"Fortunately, in rare cases, rarer than last year's snow [meaning extremely rare], some of them still have common sense. God forbid, it will not 'melt' completely [as last year's snow did], because then it will really be the end."
"Second – The Confrontation Will Be A Very Long One, And It Is Too Late To Tame The Obstinate (That Is, Us)"
"The tectonic rift that has formed in the understanding of the future, in different parts of the world, will only exacerbate. It does not take a visionary to realize that the phase of confrontation will be a very long one. The standoff will last for decades. One way of resolving it is a third world war. But this is, obviously, not a good one, as the victorious party is not at all guaranteed continued prosperity, as has been the case after previous world wars.
"Most likely, there will simply be no winners. It is impossible to consider as a victory a world in which a nuclear winter has come, in which cities once populated by millions lie in ruins, where there is no electricity due to enormous electromagnetic pulse, and huge number of people have died from shock waves, light radiation, penetrating radiation and radioactive contamination. [A world,] where terrible epidemics and famine reign.
"Here I would like to note one thing that politicians of all kinds do not like to admit: such an Apocalypse is not only possible, but also quite probable. Why? There are at least two reasons:
"First. The world is in a confrontation far worse than that during the Cuban Missile Crisis, for our adversaries have decided to actually defeat the biggest nuclear power, Russia. They are, no doubt, total idiots, but that's true. And the second reason is quite prosaic – nuclear weapons have already been used (you know well by whom and where) so there is no taboo!
"The second way of resolving this total confrontation is by seeking the most difficult compromises over a long period of time. The formation of a new respectful world order, which would be based on a balance of interests of all countries. Wherein, it certainly would be not the infamous 'rules-based order' that can cause nothing but a gag reflex for a country independent of the United States. True, we will have to endure a lot of communication, patience, restraint, withdrawal from negotiations and return to them, but in the end, we will be able to create the international contours of an equitable and secure world of the twenty-first century. It will probably take years, perhaps decades. But it is certainly better than all dying together on Apocalypse Day."
"And Thus, The Third – What Are We Prepared To Do To Get Out Of The Phase Of Total Confrontation?"
"True, we are ready to search for reasonable compromises, as the president of Russia has repeatedly stated. They are possible, but provided several fundamental points are understood.
"First, our interests must be taken into account to the maximus extent possible: there must be no more 'Anti-Russia' [i.e., a Ukraine that supports 'anti-Russian' stances] in principle, otherwise, things will end very badly sooner or later. The Kiev Nazi regime must be annihilated. In a civilized Europe, it should be legally banned as a fascist one. It should be thrown away like a rotten piece of lard to the 'dustbin' of world history. We do not know what will replace it, nor do we know what will be left of the former Nezalezhnaya [pejorative term in Russia for Ukraine, based on a Russified version of the Ukrainian word for 'independence']. But the West will have to accept this, provided it does not want to see an apocalyptic end to our imperfect civilization.
"Second, all the hard-won outcomes of the total confrontation need to be enshrined in a new document similar to the Helsinki Act, which ended the famous 1975 Helsinki Conference.
"Only the Helsinki Act itself, alas, is no good for obvious reasons. As Finland, which was created by Lenin due to an ill-thought-out plan and has now joined NATO, is now a hostile country. It would be better to temporarily suspend diplomatic relations with Finland and its likes (i.e., Poland, the Baltic states and, of course, Great Britain), or at least to lower the level of such relations for the time being.
"Third, a careful reassembly of the UN and other international organizations is likely to be necessary. This is only possible with full respect for the rights of the permanent members of the Security Council, otherwise it will be totally ineffective. In the latter case, the UN will fade into oblivion as an institution that has failed to live up to the expectations of free peoples. I'm not even mentioning the fate of the current international freaks like the ICC, the Council of Europe or the OSCE. They are already in the stinking dumpster of world development.
"I do not know whether it will be possible to choose the path of compromises. I am not sure. For now, the totally degenerate Western political class is trying to up the ante in a bloody clown horror [meaning Zelenskyy]. In a state of persistent dementia, Western political class pushes our little world toward WWIII. The stoned Kiev regime is inciting the war till the very last Ukrainian.
"In other words, I am not an optimist. It was not without reason that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov once remarked that 'life is essentially a very simple thing, and it takes a lot of effort for a man to screw it up.'
"But there is always hope."
[1] Rg.ru/2023/07/02/epoha-protivostoianiia.html?fbclid=IwAR0Vs7twSB1aTq5R64IkVx3cySkvQPDwbKCmZDwNDFDDK1YhCsKd_AILsQ0, July 2, 2023.
[2] See MEMRI Daily Brief No. 499, The Russian Elite Would Prefer To Let Putin Go His Way – And To Overtake The Country After A Collapse, By Dr. Vladislav L. Inozemtsev, July 6, 2023.
[3] "To bite one's elbow" is an expression meaning "to deeply regret something," or "to want something you cannot reach."
[4] On July 9, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden told CNN that Ukraine is not yet ready for NATO membership, saying that Russia's war in Ukraine needs to end before the alliance can consider adding Kiev to its ranks. See: Edition.cnn.com/2023/07/09/politics/joe-biden-ukraine-nato-russia-cnntv/index.html, July 9, 2023.
