By Andrew Osborn and Caleb Davis
LONDON (Portal) – Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the only way for Moscow to ensure a lasting peace with Ukraine is to push back the borders of enemy states as much as possible, even if it violates the borders of the country NATO member Poland meant .
Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments in a message on his Telegram account exactly a year after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in what it described as a “special military operation” to target Russian speakers protect ensure their own safety.
Ukraine says it is defending itself against an unprovoked, colonial-style war of aggression and has vowed to take back all of its own territory by force, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Medvedev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, predicted on Friday that Russia would win and some sort of loose deal would eventually end the fighting.
“Victory will be achieved. We all want it to happen as soon as possible. And that day will come,” said Medvedev. He predicted that tough negotiations would follow with Ukraine and the West, culminating in “some sort of agreement”.
But he said that deal would lack what he called “fundamental agreements on real borders” and would not result in an overarching European security pact, making it crucial for Russia to expand its own borders now.
“That’s why it’s so important to achieve all the goals of the military special operation. Push back the borders that threaten our country as much as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland,” said Medvedev.
Poland has long eastern borders with Ukraine and with Russia’s ally Belarus, and a roughly 200 km (125 mi) border in its northeast corner with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Any encroachment on Poland’s borders would bring Russia into direct conflict with NATO for the first time. In a speech in Warsaw this week, US President Joe Biden pledged to defend “every inch” of NATO territory if attacked.
The 57-year-old Medvedev has adopted an increasingly hawkish tone since the war began and has made a series of overt interventions, with some political analysts suggesting he is one of the people who may one day consider Putin’s successor.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Caleb Davis; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)