On March 17, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spouted off against the U.S. and other Western nations he believes pose an obstacle to the Russian mission in Ukraine. He asserted that other countries have sparked anti-Russian sentiment and expressly claimed that they have the impression that the Russian citizens are being placed in danger due to U.S. propaganda.
In addition to being the former president, Medvedev is currently serving as the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council. Medvedev believes that this is a tactic being employed to bring Russia to its knees. “It will not work – Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place.” This comment comes at a time when Russian forces have suffered massive defeats in Ukraine, not only due to the Ukrainian military, but ordinary citizens too.
The Russians aren't only being stricken by losses on the battlefield. After their incursion into Ukraine, Russia has faced various sanctions that aim to weaken its economy and eliminate them from the global market. The U.S. is not alone in these sanctions since the majority of Europe and a number of Asian countries have supported the sanctions too.
The view of the president Vladimir Putin has been incredibly narrow. He believes that the U.S. has been using Ukraine to fend off Russia and its citizens and also is claiming a genocide against Russians living in Ukraine.
The leadership of Ukraine and Western leaders have said many times that Ukraine has been trying to live in peace and any claims that they want to end Russian lives is just a lie. The Russian-born who have called Ukraine home are trapped in a no-win situation. They can't return to their home country or defend Ukraine.
The conflict has created difficulties for the world economy. Because Russia is largely cut out off from trade with their regular counterparts, the countries that typically purchase their oil and other goods are now in a highly unpredictable supply-demand situation. In addition, with other countries such as Saudi Arabia refusing to increase production and push prices lower, other countries, such as Iran or Venezuela are being examined as a solution to meet those unmet demands.
There are issues with either of those options. Iran is engaged in increasing its nuclear production , as well as other defense initiatives. There's no assurance or even the possibility that they won't make use of the increased consumption of oil to finance those projects. Venezuela is a strong ally with Russia. They've even gone so far as offering to purchase Russian oil; there is nothing that could stop them from selling the oil to markets sanctioned by Russia.
With all the pitfalls that are threatening Russia and the huge losses that their military has sustained, they have no reason, or authority, to claim that they can, or will, place their adversaries to shame. They aren't so well-equipped, well-trained, or disciplined as propaganda emanating from Moscow would lead people to believe. These issues place them at a significant disadvantage when it comes to being able to fight foreign military forces, particularly in a foreign territory. They've proven that they are not able to successfully combat in Ukraine.
