Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned of a new anti-American military coalition amid growing tensions over the Ukraine war.
The United States and Russia have long viewed each other as adversaries on the global stage, however Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine last February saw the two countries grow even further apart as the U.S. backed Kyiv, providing the Eastern European nation humanitarian and military aid, resulting in fierce condemnation from the Kremlin.
Even Medvedev, a Putin ally who was once seen as more even-tempered in dealings with the West, has now taken on stronger anti-West rhetoric amid the conflict. He now serves as the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russia Federation, and in recent weeks launched several verbal attacks on the West, including the U.S.
In a Telegram post on Sunday, Medvedev warned that Russia could join with other countries opposed to U.S. hegemony and create a military coalition aimed at weakening its dominance in global politics.
The warning came as Medvedev chastised the U.S. for providing Ukraine with stronger weapons to use on the battlefield against Putin’s troops. The U.S. announced more military aid for Ukraine last week, but has still resisted meeting many of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pleas to send tanks.
Medvedev wrote that the U.S. has “enough weapons” to send to Ukraine to “try to wear us down, or rather, destroy us.” But he warned that a prolonged conflict could backfire, resulting in the formation of this supposed coalition.
“In the event of a protracted conflict, at some point a new military alliance will form from those countries that the Americans and their pack of castrated dogs got,” Medvedev wrote. “This has always happened in the history of mankind during long wars. And then the States will finally throw old Europe and the remnants of the unfortunate Ukrainians, and the world will again come to a state of equilibrium.”
Medvedev did not offer any specific details about this supposed alliance, including which countries could join and what its goals would be beyond opposing the U.S. Still, there are several countries that have allied themselves with Russia amid the Ukraine war that are also seen as U.S. adversaries, including China.
There is some historic precedence for an anti-Western military alliance. The Warsaw Pact, which consisted of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries, was established in response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, the organization was dissolved in 1991.
Some former Warsaw Pact members, including Hungary and Poland, have since joined NATO.
This was the latest eye-catching remark Medvedev has made since the start of the “special military operation” in Ukraine. Earlier this month, he called on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to disembowel himself after he issued a statement with President Joe Biden denouncing Russia’s potential use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Last May, he predicted the “collapse” of a U.S.-centric world.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as global politics experts, for comment.
The post Putin Ally Warns New Anti-American ‘Military Alliance’ May Emerge appeared first on Newsweek.
