Russian Premier Calls Entanglements a ‘New Cold War’
Dmitry Medvedev warns of grave consequences if West fails to cooperate with Russia in Syria, elsewhere
MUNICH—Russian Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev said the world was fighting a new Cold War, warning of
grave consequences for the West if it didn’t cooperate with Russia in
Syria and elsewhere.
“We have slid, in essence, into times of a new Cold War,” Mr. Medvedev said in a speech Saturday to senior international officials at a marquee security conference in Germany.
Mr. Medvedev cited the Syria conflict as an arena of much-needed cooperation between Russia and the West, especially on military issues.
“Military officials must be in constant contact,” Mr. Medvedev said, returning to the point later in his remarks. “They should be calling each other 10 times a day.”
Russia has been using its military intervention on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the Syria conflict to raise its profile as a player on the world stage. Cease-fire talks on Syria in Munich on Thursday night elevated Russia’s profile by creating a working group co-chaired by Russia and the U.S. that was tasked with determining the technicalities of a Syria cease-fire.
Mr. Medvedev insisted in his speech and a short Q-and-A session alongside French Prime Minister Manuel Valls that the West faced a stark choice: cooperate with Russia on common interests such as fighting terrorism and ensuring stability in the Middle East—or face a permanent, global conflict. He said the U.S. and Western Europe had departed from a post-World War II security architecture that had ensured 70 years of relative stability.
“Do we really need a third global shake-up to realize the importance of cooperation rather than confrontation?” Mr. Medvedev asked rhetorically after mentioning World War II.
But U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond expressed skepticism over the possibility of a cease-fire being implemented in Syria within the one-week deadline.
“Frankly, it depends on what Russia wants,” he said. “The fact on the ground is this…Over the last weeks Russia has been bombing the moderate opposition positions.”
He said that unless Russia stops or significantly scales back that bombing, the resumption of high-level political talks aimed at resolving the conflict is unlikely.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s supreme allied commander, said Mr. Medvedev was entitled to his own position but he said NATO didn’t want—or see—a new Cold War.
That position was echoed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “We are certainly not in a Cold War,” he said.
Speaking in Germany—a country scrambling to deal with an influx of
more than a million refugees and migrants who have arrived in the past
year—Mr. Medvedev described the migration crisis as another consequence
of the new global instability wrought by the West.
The migration crisis, he said, was bringing “hundreds and thousands of extremists” to Europe, along with “people who just want to get welfare and do nothing.”
“We are ready to help resolve the migration problems in every way we can,” Mr. Medvedev said.
Mr. Valls, sitting alongside Mr. Medvedev, said Russia’s intervention in Syria was aggravating the suffering in the country and pressed Russia to stop bombing civilians in Syria.
“France respects Russia as well as its interests,” he said. “We need to have peace and we need to have negotiations” in Syria “and for that we need to stop bombing against civilians.”
Separately in Munich, senior European officials warned that time was running out for Russia and Ukraine to fully implement last year’s cease-fire agreement.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that while the intensity of fighting in eastern Ukraine had eased, “we are still a good way away” from implementing the accord reached in Minsk.
A senior European diplomat familiar with Saturday’s talks said France and Germany told the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers that diplomatic efforts to resolve the accord had been stuck since November and that they wanted to see it fully implemented by the summer.
The person said European officials made it clear that they wanted to see progress on several key issues by the time of the next ministerial meeting, expected in early March.
Also speaking Saturday in Munich, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Moscow and Kiev to move forward on the deal.
He said Russia still faces a “simple” choice: Fully implement Minsk or face continued sanctions. However, he echoed growing concerns in Western capitals about Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko government’s failure to implement its side of the deal.
“We have slid, in essence, into times of a new Cold War,” Mr. Medvedev said in a speech Saturday to senior international officials at a marquee security conference in Germany.
Mr. Medvedev cited the Syria conflict as an arena of much-needed cooperation between Russia and the West, especially on military issues.
“Military officials must be in constant contact,” Mr. Medvedev said, returning to the point later in his remarks. “They should be calling each other 10 times a day.”
Russia has been using its military intervention on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the Syria conflict to raise its profile as a player on the world stage. Cease-fire talks on Syria in Munich on Thursday night elevated Russia’s profile by creating a working group co-chaired by Russia and the U.S. that was tasked with determining the technicalities of a Syria cease-fire.
Mr. Medvedev insisted in his speech and a short Q-and-A session alongside French Prime Minister Manuel Valls that the West faced a stark choice: cooperate with Russia on common interests such as fighting terrorism and ensuring stability in the Middle East—or face a permanent, global conflict. He said the U.S. and Western Europe had departed from a post-World War II security architecture that had ensured 70 years of relative stability.
“Do we really need a third global shake-up to realize the importance of cooperation rather than confrontation?” Mr. Medvedev asked rhetorically after mentioning World War II.
But U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond expressed skepticism over the possibility of a cease-fire being implemented in Syria within the one-week deadline.
“Frankly, it depends on what Russia wants,” he said. “The fact on the ground is this…Over the last weeks Russia has been bombing the moderate opposition positions.”
He said that unless Russia stops or significantly scales back that bombing, the resumption of high-level political talks aimed at resolving the conflict is unlikely.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s supreme allied commander, said Mr. Medvedev was entitled to his own position but he said NATO didn’t want—or see—a new Cold War.
That position was echoed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “We are certainly not in a Cold War,” he said.
‘Do we really need a third global shake-up to realize the importance of cooperation rather than confrontation?’
The migration crisis, he said, was bringing “hundreds and thousands of extremists” to Europe, along with “people who just want to get welfare and do nothing.”
“We are ready to help resolve the migration problems in every way we can,” Mr. Medvedev said.
Mr. Valls, sitting alongside Mr. Medvedev, said Russia’s intervention in Syria was aggravating the suffering in the country and pressed Russia to stop bombing civilians in Syria.
“France respects Russia as well as its interests,” he said. “We need to have peace and we need to have negotiations” in Syria “and for that we need to stop bombing against civilians.”
Separately in Munich, senior European officials warned that time was running out for Russia and Ukraine to fully implement last year’s cease-fire agreement.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that while the intensity of fighting in eastern Ukraine had eased, “we are still a good way away” from implementing the accord reached in Minsk.
A senior European diplomat familiar with Saturday’s talks said France and Germany told the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers that diplomatic efforts to resolve the accord had been stuck since November and that they wanted to see it fully implemented by the summer.
The person said European officials made it clear that they wanted to see progress on several key issues by the time of the next ministerial meeting, expected in early March.
Also speaking Saturday in Munich, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Moscow and Kiev to move forward on the deal.
He said Russia still faces a “simple” choice: Fully implement Minsk or face continued sanctions. However, he echoed growing concerns in Western capitals about Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko government’s failure to implement its side of the deal.
—Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article.
