‘Almost every day we are accused of making new disgusting threats either against North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as a whole, against Europe or against the United States or other countries’.
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Emphasizing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sentiments at the same conference in 2007, Medvedev said “the picture is more grim; the developments since 2007 have been worse than anticipated”.
The clash, with echoes of superpower rhetoric during the 20th century, played out at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday even as Russia, Europe and the US say they’re seeking to end Syria’s civil war, resolve the armed standoff in eastern Ukraine and make progress toward lifting European economic sanctions against Russia.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev claims the West – specifically the United States – is to blame for a new Cold War.
“Taking refugees from Ukraine was a striking challenge for us, as compared to a relatively small migration flow from Syria”.
The world has plunged into a “new Cold War”, the Russian premier said Saturday, as East-West tensions over Syria and Ukraine dominated a gathering of world leaders in Germany.
“Russia can prove by its actions that it will respect Ukraine’s sovereignty just as it insists on respect for its own by the same token”, Kerry said, with Lavrov in the audience.
He said the main danger to Europeans is an “alternative Europe with alternative values” such as isolation, intolerance and disrespect of human rights. “And that begins when we stop talking past each other, and start talking with each other”, he added.
“Sometimes I wonder if it’s 2016 or if we live in 1962”, he added, referring to the year of the Cuban missile crisis, a highpoint in Cold War tensions.
Medvedev shifted focus to Ukraine for the middle segment of his remarks – another important pillar of Russia’s rhetorical strategy to break sanctions and return to business as usual with the West, free of charge. If the United States and Russian Federation become entrenched in a new Cold War, it may not take much for it to escalate into World War III.
His comments dealt a swift blow to worldwide efforts to secure a ceasefire, deliver aid and promote a negotiated solution to the war that has killed more than a quarter of a million civilians.
Medvedev also said he saw no need to scare anyone with a ground operation in Syria. “If the global community and the Syrians themselves miss the opportunity now before us to achieve that political resolution to the conflict, the violence, the bloodshed, the torture, the bombing, and the anguish will continue – so will the siren call to jihad”.
Earlier this week, Stoltenberg announced that plans had been approved for an increased North Atlantic Treaty Organisation presence in eastern Europe – which sources said would involve between 3,000 and 6,000 troops rotating through the region. “There is nothing cold about this, it is very hot”.
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NATO does not aim to have an escalation with Russian Federation despite the alliance’s steps to strengthen its collective defense in member states, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.
