Putin ally: Europe-NATO alliance without US would be worse for Russia
Warning of negative strategic consequences, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed on Friday that a potential US pullout from NATO would represent a deterioration of the situation for Russia.
- World
- DPA
- Published Date: 07:13 | 03 April 2026
A potential withdrawal of the US from NATO would represent a deterioration of the situation for Russia, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claimed on Friday.
The European part of NATO would remain, and the European Union would transform into a military alliance, wrote the current deputy head of the Russian Security Council on the Max network.
The EU would then no longer be an economic union, but instead "could rapidly develop into a fully-fledged military alliance that is extremely hostile towards Russia, which in some respects is worse than NATO."
Medvedev concluded that Russia should abandon its "tolerant stance" – as he put it – towards the accession of neighbouring states to the EU. This also applies to Ukraine, which he called "Country 404", after the internet error message for a non-existent website.
The scenarios discussed so far for an end to the war in Ukraine and a peace settlement in Europe assume that Kyiv will eventually join the EU.
The Russian leadership has not raised any objections to this so far. Moscow rules out Ukrainian membership of NATO. Russia has always claimed Ukraine's possible accession to the Western defence alliance is the reason for its full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
There is currently great tension within NATO because US President Donald Trump accuses the members of failing to support the US in Washington's war on Iran.
Medvedev's warning of a "remnant" European NATO ignores the fact that US nuclear weapons form the backbone of the deterrent against Russia. Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009, the EU has also been a defence alliance with a mutual defence obligation among its member states.
The European part of NATO would remain, and the European Union would transform into a military alliance, wrote the current deputy head of the Russian Security Council on the Max network.
The EU would then no longer be an economic union, but instead "could rapidly develop into a fully-fledged military alliance that is extremely hostile towards Russia, which in some respects is worse than NATO."
Medvedev concluded that Russia should abandon its "tolerant stance" – as he put it – towards the accession of neighbouring states to the EU. This also applies to Ukraine, which he called "Country 404", after the internet error message for a non-existent website.
The scenarios discussed so far for an end to the war in Ukraine and a peace settlement in Europe assume that Kyiv will eventually join the EU.
The Russian leadership has not raised any objections to this so far. Moscow rules out Ukrainian membership of NATO. Russia has always claimed Ukraine's possible accession to the Western defence alliance is the reason for its full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
There is currently great tension within NATO because US President Donald Trump accuses the members of failing to support the US in Washington's war on Iran.
Medvedev's warning of a "remnant" European NATO ignores the fact that US nuclear weapons form the backbone of the deterrent against Russia. Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009, the EU has also been a defence alliance with a mutual defence obligation among its member states.
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