The former Russian president ruled out peace talks with Zelensky and said parts of Ukraine should “return home.”
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has ruled out any possibility of peace talks with Ukraine's current leadership, stating that Ukraine is part of Russia.
In a bellicose speech at a youth festival in the southern city of Sochi on Monday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would carry out what he called a “special military operation” until the other side surrendered.
The former president and prime minister said that the so-called historic regions of Russia should “return home.”
Medvedev spoke while holding a map of Ukraine in front of him. The map showed Russia in full control of the east, south and Black Sea coasts, with a much smaller inland region facing Poland.
“One of Ukraine's former leaders said at one point that Ukraine is not Russia,” Medvedev said.
“That concept needs to go away forever. Ukraine is definitely Russia,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.
President Medvedev said peace negotiations were impossible with Ukraine's current leadership, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
He said any future Ukrainian government that wants to engage in dialogue needs to recognize what he called the new reality on the ground.
Commenting on East-West relations, President Medvedev accused US special forces and military advisers of waging a war against Russia, and said relations between Russia and the US were worse than during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. .
accusation against germany
On Sunday, Medvedev joined a chorus of voices in the Kremlin condemning Western countries' involvement in the Ukraine war after wiretap recordings of German military personnel were released on Russian social media.
The discussion revolved around the potential impact of Ukraine's use of German-made Taurus missiles.
The conversation included remarks about directing missiles at targets such as the Kerch Bridge, which connects mainland Russia with occupied Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refused to ship missiles to Ukraine, fearing an escalation of the conflict.
Medvedev criticized the German military in a Telegram post on Sunday, claiming the country was preparing an attack on Russia.
