ISTANBUL

The deputy head of the Russian Security Council said early Monday that a possible question of Russia’s existence will be decided together with that of human civilization.

“If the question of the existence of Russia itself seriously arises, it will be decided not at all on the Ukrainian front, but together with the question of the further existence of the entire human civilization,” Dmitry Medvedev said in an opinion piece published by the daily Izvestia.

Medvedev said history has demonstrated that any empire that collapses “buries half the world, or even more, under its rubble,” noting that those that wish for the downfall of Russia, and previously the Soviet Union, do not understand this.

“They still have delusional illusions that, by sending the Soviet Union to the next world without a single shot, they will be able to bury the current Russia without significant problems for themselves, throwing the lives of thousands of people involved in the conflict into the furnace. These are extremely dangerous misconceptions,” Medvedev further said.

Medvedev noted that a process of “disintegration and war” follows after an empire experiences its “golden age,” saying this process took place in a delayed manner with the Soviet Union, with the conflict that usually follows having only just flared up.

"The strongest catalyst for war after the death of an empire is always the countries around it that want to further divide the collapsed power. In our case (Soviet Union), it was the frostbitten and cynical position of the Western world,” he said.

He went on to indicate two dates as “points of no return,” namely the five-day conflict between Georgia and Russia concerning the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea by Moscow in 2014.

He also said it is possible for the West to continue providing weapons to Ukraine and prevent any possibility of reviving negotiations, but that this prevents them from understanding that their goals “obviously lead to a total fiasco.”

“Russia will not allow this. And we are not alone in this aspiration. Western countries with satellites account for only 15% of the world's population. There are many more of us, and we are much stronger. The calm power of our big country and the authority of its partners is the key to preserving the future for our whole world,” he concluded.​​​​​​​