The former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has claimed that Moscow should push back the borders of NATO states, including Poland, in order to ensure "lasting peace with Ukraine."
Medvedev, a known hawk who some believe may one day succeed Vladimir Putin, made the comments on his own Telegram account, exactly a year after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine under the guise of a "special operation" that quickly became a full-blown military conflict.
"Victory will be achieved," he wrote. "We all want it to happen as soon as possible. And that day will come."
He predicted that Russia and Ukraine would reach "some kind of agreement" that would lack "fundamental agreements on real borders" and would not constitute an overarching European security pact, making it critical for Russia to extend its own borders at present.
"That is why it is so important to achieve all the goals of the special military operation," he said. "To push back the borders that threaten our country as far as possible, even if they are the borders of Poland."
Poland shares lengthy eastern borders with Ukraine and with Belarus, as well as a frontier of roughly 200 km (125 miles) in its northeastern corner with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The comments come after President Joe Biden said in a speech in Warsaw this week that the U.S. would defend "every inch" of NATO territory if it were attacked by Russian forces.
"You're the frontlines of our collective defense," Biden told NATO leaders. "And you know, better than anyone, what's at stake in this conflict. Not just for Ukraine, but for the freedom of democracies throughout Europe and around the world."
