Medvedev: ex-NATO Secretary General fell into “doctrinal dementia”

Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen “fell into doctrinaire dementia.” This statement was made by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the words of the ex-secretary general about the possible entry of NATO troops into Ukraine.

“Well, did you ask the population of these countries? Which of them wants war with Russia? You want hypersonic strikes on Europe, right? And what does Uncle Sam think about this? It will affect him too.” wrote Medvedev in his Telegram channel.

According to the politician, Rasmussen, who “was not a very smart person before,” fell into “doctrinal dementia.”

On June 7, The Guardian newspaper quoted Rasmussen as suggesting that Poland and the Baltic states could deploy troops in Ukraine. Such a scenario, according to the former NATO Secretary General, could happen if Kyiv does not receive from the alliance “a clear path for moving Ukraine forward” at the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Later Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba declaredthat Kyiv does not expect foreign troops to enter the country until the end of the conflict. He stressed that the Ukrainian authorities are not asking for this.

7 June NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declaredthat it is still premature to talk about a possible decision on Ukraine’s membership in NATO following the results of the alliance’s summit in Vilnius on July 11-12. According to him, now the countries of the bloc are focused on helping Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of joining Russia in the fall of 2022, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky declaredthat Ukraine will apply for NATO membership in an expedited manner. In November Stoltenberg notedthat Kyiv should focus on maintaining its independence and not on NATO membership.

In April of this year he informed about reaching a consensus by NATO members that Ukraine should become a member of the alliance. In response, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell declaredthat the decision on Ukraine’s entry into NATO will be made by the member countries of the alliance, and not by Stoltenberg. On May 15, The Washington Post, citing sources, reported that members of the alliance decided not to do so at the Vilnius summit.

In the Kremlin declaredthat Stoltenberg’s words only confirm the correctness of the decision to conduct a special operation. Prior to this, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the exclusion of the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO is still one of the goals of the special operation of the Russian Federation.