Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk wants Europe to pressure Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make Kyiv give in to Russian demands.
Otherwise a nuclear conflict cannot be ruled out.
Munich/Moscow – According to Moscow, Soledar in the Donbass has been taken.
Meanwhile, Russia announces the restructuring of its army.
And: According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin is planning a new major offensive in Ukraine.
After many military setbacks since the invasion of the western neighbor, the attackers apparently sense new opportunities.
Pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch: Viktor Medvedchuk threatens Europe and the West
In this situation, the pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk has issued new threats.
Specifically, he warned Europe that supporting Kyiv would bring the conflict closer to home.
Instead, he called on the West to increase pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to comply with Russian demands.
To put this in perspective, Medvedchuk was the head of the pro-Russian opposition party For Life in Ukraine.
The 68-year-old, who was then under house arrest on charges of high treason, went into hiding after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in February 2022, but was arrested by the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) in April.
In the video: Compact - The most important news about the Russia-Ukraine war
In September, the former industrialist, who is said to have had close ties to Putin for a long time, was released in a prisoner exchange with Moscow.
The government in Kyiv revoked his Ukrainian citizenship at the time.
Since then he has lived in Russia - and has made allegations against his old homeland.
As now in an interview with the pro-government Russian daily
Isvestia
.
The US news magazine
Newsweek
quoted it in an article on Monday (January 16).
Viktor Medvedchuk: Ukraine's Putin friend sees danger of 'nuclear war'
"It is no longer Europe that teaches politics to Ukraine, but Ukraine is teaching Europe how to achieve economic decline and poverty through politics of hate and intransigence," Medvedchuk said, according to
Newsweek
in the interview continues, it will be drawn into a war, possibly a nuclear war.”
If Europe continues this policy, it will be drawn into a war, possibly a nuclear war.
Viktor Medvedchuk, pro-Kremlin Ukrainian oligarch
Moscow repeatedly raises the possible danger of a nuclear conflict with the West.
The well-known Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov recently called not only for tests of Russian nuclear weapons as a demonstration of power, but also for preventive nuclear strikes.
It is not the time to scare the world, but to "slap it in the face".
At the end of September, Putin himself said about Russia's nuclear weapons: "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will of course use all means at our disposal to defend Russia and our people.
This is not a bluff"
Vladimir Putin's confidante: Ukrainian oligarch promotes Russia's "interests"
Medvedchuk, who also made proposals for an end to the Ukraine war, also started his argument with the nuclear threat.
"And now there are only two ways out: slide into a world war and a nuclear conflict.
Or to restart the detente process, for which it is necessary to take into account the interests of all parties," he explained
in an interview with
Izvestia , according to
Newsweek
: "But for this it is necessary to politically recognize that Russia has interests.
And that these must be taken into account when establishing a new detente.” Which, based on the Cold War, presumably means a policy of detente.
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People know each other: Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Moscow in October 2020.
© IMAGO / Russian Look
Ukraine war: Putin friend Medvedchuk raises allegations against the West
Medvedchuk further urged: “Play honestly, do not deceive anyone, do not let in a haze and do not try to make money on someone else's blood.” However, if the world political system is not capable of “elementary decency, blinded by pride and own economic interests," said the Putin friend, "then even more difficult times await us."
(pm)
