Former President Medvedev: Russia Must Be Ready To Attack The West

JAKARTA - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe. But if the West increases the escalation of Ukraine's war further, then Moscow must respond and, if necessary, launch an initial attack.

Medvedev's statement was quoted by the TASS news agency as showing Moscow seeing confrontations with the West over Ukraine escalated after US President Donald Trump demanded a peace agreement within 50 days.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump have repeatedly warned about the risk of war escalation, which both Moscow and Trump's administration describe as a proxy war between the two largest nuclear powers in the world.

Medvedev dismissed claims by NATO and Western Europe repeatedly that Russia would one day attack members of the US-dominated military alliance, but also said Russia needed to be ready to respond "in full" if the West continued to press.

"West politicians' statements on this topic make absolutely no sense," Medvedev said.

"We need to act accordingly. Respond fully. And if necessary, launch a preliminary attack," Medvedev continued.

He said many people in the West have "traisal in their blood" and outdated views of their own superiority.

The Kremlin, when asked about Medvedev's statement, said it had expressed its opinion and concerns about the "confrontative" environment in Europe can be justified.

Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, was analyzing Trump's threat to impose 100% secondary sanctions on Russian export buyers unless Putin agreed to a peace agreement in 50 days.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, presented himself as a modernist liberal when he served as president from 2008 to 2012.

But since then he has emerged as an aggressive and anti-West man against the Kremlin.

Diplomats said their statements showed there was thought among some political elites.

The United States says 1.2 million people have been injured or killed in the war, the deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to end the war, said he was "very unhappy" and "disappointed" against Putin, although he considered his decision to send weapons to Ukraine aimed at pushing Russia towards peace.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Putin intends to continue to fight in Ukraine to the West meeting his terms of peace, not be affected by the threat of tougher sanctions, and his territorial demands could expand as Russian troops progress.

Russia and the United States have so far been the largest nuclear power in the world, with about 87% of all nuclear weapons, followed by China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, according to the American Federation of Scientists.

"What happened today is a proxy war, but it is essentially a full-scale war (West missile launch, satellite intelligence, etc.), a sanctions package, a strong statement about European militarization," Medvedev said.