MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Moscow will without fail carry out a strike against foreign military bases in Ukraine should any be established in the country, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram.

Referring to the declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine drawn up by the EU, he stated that the document was "a useless scrap of paper" with no added value. However, it provided Kiev with the opportunity to make separate agreements with individual countries on weapons supplies, troop training, funding for military programs and many other things, up to and including the establishment of military bases on Ukrainian soil.

"This is the game plan: We won’t let you join NATO as we don’t want a war with Russia, but there are no holds barred when it comes to relations with individual [NATO member countries]. In fact, the question now is how they will interpret Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. In other words, when Russia [eventually] carries out a strike on such a base (which is inevitable given that troops stationed at such a base will have been deployed there specifically to fight against us), will the allies [acting together] then be prepared to give a collective response to our country for the destruction of a base set up by [an individual] NATO member state?" the politician asked rhetorically.

Medvedev pointed out that an attack on a military base would certainly provide grounds for activating Article 6 of NATO’s founding treaty, which mentions "an armed attack <...> on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties." "This is where things get more interesting: Article 5 says that the response does not have to be a military or a collective one," he noted. The Russian Security Council deputy chairman emphasized that a response to such actions included the use of "the right of individual or collective self-defense" by the allies to "assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary." "That said, it’s possible either to respond together or leave the owner of Ukraine-sited bases to its own devices. A response may or may not include the use of military means. So there should be no illusions; it’s a loose loophole, and the mongrel Banderite regime should bear that in mind," Medvedev concluded.

The 14-article North Atlantic Treaty, commonly known as the Washington Treaty, was signed in 1949, thus laying the foundations for the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The principle of collective defense, enshrined in Article 5 of the Treaty, obligates the NATO allies to come to each other’s defense in case of attack.