Moscow: Russia’s diplomatic efforts with the West are currently in crisis management mode, focusing on preventing tensions from escalating into a large-scale conflict, a top Russian diplomat stated this morning.
In an interview with the TASS news agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov emphasized that the security guarantees Russia sought from the West in 2021 are now irrelevant, expressing Moscow’s deep mistrust in NATO.
“(NATO) continues the manic advance of the alliance towards new frontiers… they are literally ready to balance on the brink of a direct armed conflict with us,” Ryabkov said. “We warn that they are playing with fire. (The US) have long been in a state of proxy war with the Russian Federation. They somehow cannot understand that they are approaching a phase when it will be very difficult to manage what is happening and a landslide crisis.
“Diplomacy in this direction is working, I would say, in crisis management mode and in… preventing a slide to a really large-scale conflict,” he concluded.
Ryabkov’s remarks came shortly after Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, warned that Ukraine was “dragging the United States and Europe” into a major global war. He urged Western leaders to act responsibly to avoid a catastrophe.
Meanwhile, Russian troops continue their advance in eastern Ukraine, displacing thousands in Kharkiv following another ground invasion by Moscow.
“The Kyiv regime is dragging the United States and European countries into a big war,” said Volodin, a close ally of Putin and a member of Russia’s Security Council. He accused Ukrainian lawmakers of attempting to convince the United States to permit Kyiv to use US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.
“This path leads to a tragedy that can affect all of humanity,” Volodin stated. “Western politicians need to realize their responsibility and do everything to avoid bringing the situation to a global catastrophe.”
President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the worst breakdown in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
In Kyiv on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that Washington had “not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war.”
“We’ve been clear about our own policy, but again, these are decisions that Ukraine has to make, Ukraine will make for itself,” Blinken said, according to a transcript from the US State Department.
Ukraine maintains it has the right to target Russian sites as it faces daily missile attacks from Russia. However, the United States is cautious about its weapons being used directly against Russia, the world’s largest nuclear power, due to broader risks.
Putin and US President Joe Biden have both warned that a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance could trigger World War Three. Russia has cautioned that using US and Western weapons against targets within Russia could escalate the conflict further, with Putin ordering tactical nuclear weapon exercises partly in response to Western statements.
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“Any use of American and European weapons to attack peaceful cities of the Russian Federation will require the use of more powerful weapons to protect the citizens of our country,” Volodin warned.
Adding to the tension, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy on the Russian Security Council, engaged in further saber-rattling and mocked Britain’s former Prime Minister David Cameron. Medvedev criticized Cameron for allegedly supporting Ukraine’s use of British missiles against Russia, calling him a “moron.”
“In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is their decision about how to use these weapons, they’re defending their country, they were illegally invaded by Putin and they must take those steps.”
Medvedev’s comments reflect an apparent shift in understanding that Western long-range missiles would be used only against Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, not within Russia itself.
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“I remember this bloke quite well. I worked with him when he became prime minister,” Medvedev said of Cameron. “An ordinary, dull British guy. At that time he was joyfully stupid and looked like a young devil who was reveling in his unexpectedly acquired position.”
Medvedev alleged Cameron had told the Ukrainians, “you can fire our missiles wherever you want… we, the British, are not afraid of anything, not even a nuclear conflict.”
“Cool! You shouldn’t be, mate,” Medvedev retorted, adding, “David – you might want to be careful,” without specifying the consequences of British missiles striking Russian territory.
Medvedev, modern Russia’s longest-serving prime minister and president from 2008 to 2012, is now Putin’s deputy on the Russian Security Council, which now includes former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as its secretary.
Putin recently accused the West of risking a global conflict and declared that no one would be allowed to threaten Russia.
