If Ukraine – like any other country – is barred from joining NATO while an armed conflict rages, Moscow will continue the war to thwart Kiev’s plans. It was former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who stated it, while Ukrainians and allies recognize the difficulty of retaking occupied territory.
In a signed article in the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazette, the vice president of Russia’s Security Council – who has played the role of messenger of the nuclear apocalypse – assured that Moscow is maintaining the plan to prevent Ukraine from joining the Atlantic alliance. “Our goal is simple: to remove Ukraine’s threat of NATO membership. And we will achieve it. One way or another,” Medvedev said.
Quoted by Reuters, the former Russian prime minister and president predicted that the conflict with Ukraine could become “permanent” given its existential nature for Moscow. “The confrontation will last a very long time and it is too late to tame the recalcitrants (i.e. us). The confrontation will last for decades,” he said in a text where he again assessed nuclear war as “very likely”.
On the nuclear threat, Ukrainian military intelligence says Russian workers at the occupied Zaporizhya power station have received instructions to leave the facilities until tomorrow, while President Zelensky claimed in statements to Spanish journalists that Russia is “technically ready to carry out a local explosion in the installation, which could lead to the release of hazardous substances into the air”.
Regarding the situation on the war front, Zelensky acknowledged a “difficult week” but that the armed forces are moving forward “step by step”. According to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, nine square kilometers in the east and 28 square kilometers in the south have been recaptured in the past week. “We should not comment on Ukraine as if they should move faster or as if it is a disappointment that they are not moving quickly. This type of operation is extremely difficult,” said NATO Admiral Rob Bauer.
In Moscow, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that among the 920 armored vehicles destroyed to the Ukrainians in the past month, almost all were Leopard tanks supplied by Portugal and Poland.
Source: DN
