MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. Calls from the West for a ceasefire in Ukraine are largely an attempt to give Kiev a breather and prepare Ukrainian troops for a new counteroffensive, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian media, including TASS.
"If we are talking about signals that it is time to take a breather, time to start negotiations, then, of course, to a large extent, this is such a shrewd move. Not very shrewd, let's be honest, but the proposals are calculated on the fact that we (Russia - TASS) will stop the special military operation, military actions will not take place, Russian lands will not be returned home, and at this moment they will get a break, concentrate, deliveries of various Western weapons will be made, and after that they will stage another counteroffensive, which will be somewhat more successful than the failure that took place last year," Medvedev said.
In his opinion, the publications in the Western press about not dreaming about Russia's possible defeat in Ukraine are aimed at this outcome.
In addition, Medvedev pointed out that such publications are aimed primarily at the Western elites themselves. "Previously, the main calculation was Russia's defeat, given the hybrid war that has been unleashed against us, given that the entire Western world is against us. Of course, all the Western media <...> were full of headlines that Russia was about to collapse, that it would break into pieces, that Russia did not have enough power to resist the NATO military machine, and so on. Events are unfolding in a completely different scenario. Of course, they have to react to it somehow," the official said.
"Partly, if you like, this is part of such a propaganda campaign, I mean that what the special services are making, running this story in different media. This is probably what [the publications] were meant for," Medvedev emphasized.