MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. Kiev’s persuasion to strike Russia would make NATO a party to the conflict and provoke World War III, but sacrificing of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky could help the West, said Viktor Medvedchuk, former leader of the Opposition Platform-For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine, and current head of the Other Ukraine movement.
The main global intrigue is the decision on strikes with long-range missiles deep into Russian territory, the politician wrote in an opinion column on the smotrim.ru media platform. "Zelensky wants to turn strikes against Russia into a bargaining chip and use it in his peace talks with Moscow, and he persuades the collective West in this. That is, long-range missiles will become a kind of a baton used to force Russia to negotiate," Medvedchuk said.
However, he emphasized, Russia may intensify its attacks on Ukraine which practically lacks its own air force or nuclear weapons. What is more, if Zelensky obtains from Washington the right to strike Russia, it will make the United States look like an aggressor, the country will finally quarrel with the global South, especially with China, India, and the Arab world. "Just like Zelensky, the collective West will end up being involved in World War III," Medvedchuk stated.
Meanwhile, he said, the West understands that supporting Ukraine's declared goal of reaching the 1991 borders will require "hundreds of billions of dollars" from the country’s partners. In reality neither the US nor Europe can provide such sums. In addition, Western countries "have had difficulties in supporting Ukraine's assistance at the public level." The leader of the Other Ukraine movement reminded that Ukraine's use of long-range ATACMS missiles for strikes against Russia has already brought a split in the US leadership.
At the same time, according to Medvedchuk, Russia "is fully aware of NATO countries’ increasing involvement in the conflict," which leads to World War III, and the collective West, not Zelensky, will be held responsible for that.
"Zelensky has already derailed the very possibility of peace talks by invading the Russian territory. With long-range strikes on Russia, he is willing to derail the possibility of NATO countries to organize peace talks, since NATO would become a party to the conflict. And the moment it happens, the issue of the US world hegemony will be removed from the agenda, the role of the global South will be significantly increased," the leader of the Other Ukraine movement said.
Russia, according to Medvedchuk, has already weighted all the possibilities and is now waiting for the decision of Washington, caught in a zugzwang. "It was dragged into this very zugzwang by Zelensky, the green clown who never could see around the next corner. And [in order for the West] to get out [of this problem], Zelensky is to be sacrificed. There is simply no other solution to the problem," the politician expressed his confidence.