Russia's Medvedev says Ukraine conflict may become 'permanent'

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev says confrontation with the West will “last decades” and that its conflict with Ukraine could become permanent.

Medvedev, Russia’s former president and currently the deputy head of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council, made the comments in an article published in the government-affiliated newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

He said that an apocalyptic scenario is not only possible but also quite likely, warning that a nuclear conflict is “quite probable”.

He has repeatedly warned that Western support for Ukraine could make the risk of a nuclear conflict irresistible – a conflict Medvedev believes would have no winners.

He pointed to significant disagreements over Ukraine and the structure of the world order as sources of tension.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and its Western allies have been providing Kiev with military equipment worth tens of billions of dollars.

The supplied arms include rocket systems, drones, tanks and armored vehicles and communication systems as reports also indicate a probable supply of F-16 fighter jets.

The only way to de-escalate tensions between Russia and the West was to enter into tough negotiations, he said.

"The confrontation will be very long and it is too late to tame the recalcitrants (i.e. us)," said Medvedev. "The confrontation will last for decades."

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