Russia sees Finland and Sweden joining NATO less of a threat than Ukraine

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Russia is willing to export grain to international markets if its ships are not stopped

MADRID, June 3. (Royals Blue) –

The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO is less of a threat to Russia than Ukraine’s entry, Russian Security Council Vice President Dimitri Medvedev said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“The entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO – at least in the form in which it has been announced – represents less of a threat to Russia than the admission of Ukraine,” Medvedev said, as reported by the news agency TASS.

Thus, he explained that the point is that Russia has no territorial disputes with those countries, “which cannot be said of Ukraine”, he stressed.

On the other hand, Medvedev has pointed out that the United States and Europe supply weapons to Ukraine because this situation gives them the opportunity to wage war against Russia.

“The American and European commissioners are already saying that everything must be done to ensure Ukraine’s victory. But it is Ukraine that is fighting, not the United States or Europe. They do not want to spare the lives of the Ukrainians and supply the country with weapons greedily, including the aforementioned MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems), financially support Ukraine and thereby, in fact, encourage the continuation of hostilities,” Medvedev stressed.

In his opinion, the Ukrainian government agreed to address most of the issues at the negotiating table at the beginning of the offensive.

“They were ready to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status, demilitarization, denazification and — in certain respects — to recognize territorial realities,” he stressed.

Medvedev has assured that Ukraine later withdrew from the negotiations “because they began to receive a lot of money and weapons from Europeans and Americans.”

Thus, he has emphasized that Russia focuses on the defense of citizens and interests, not on winning the war.

In this context, Medvedev has indicated that he appreciates the “balanced, moderate and calm” position of the Arab countries, which is what the situation needs at this time.

“I would like to say that, in general, our Arab friends have an absolutely balanced, moderate and calm position, which is exactly what is needed in this situation. They understand that this conflict has certain historical roots, they understand that our country tried to solve it in the negotiating table, but at the same time they do not take sides. We appreciate this position, demonstrated by the majority of the Arab states”, he asserted.

He also mentioned that Russia wants to respect “the will of the people” in the separatist regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

“We will analyze your will very exhaustively and we will make decisions in accordance with the Russian Constitution,” Medvedev said, when asked if Russia was willing to incorporate territories of a foreign country, such as the Ukrainian region of Kherson and Ossetia of the South.

RUSSIA WILLING TO EXPORT GRAIN

Medvedev has announced that Russia is ready to supply its grain to international markets, but must ensure that its ships will not be detained under anti-Russian sanctions.

“They (Western countries) want us to export wheat, for example, so they can stop it later, or what?” he said, adding that this scenario is “impossible.”

For Medvedev, the world food situation has worsened “as a result of the sanctions imposed by the Western world.”

“They tell us to ‘go ahead and export’, but at the same time our commercial ships are not being serviced and attempts are being made to confiscate our property,” he said.

Regarding the export of grain by Ukraine, Medvedev has specified that “it needs to ensure that the commercial ships that are expected to take grain out of Ukraine do not carry more weapons into the country.”

“We have to be sure that commercial ships, for example, carrying wheat will not carry weapons there, because we don’t want additional weapons delivered to Ukraine on board those commercial ships, under the guise of humanitarian aid or something like that,” the Russian official has sentenced.