– Your plan collapses – Dagsavisen

160 delegations have been invited to a conference on peace in Ukraine in June by the Swiss authorities. Russia is currently not among them.

– What is the advantage of the idiotic “peace conference” in Switzerland? Well, first of all, it will be yet another proof that Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s so-called peace plan is collapsing, writes Medvedev on his own Telegram channel, without elaborating on what he puts in “proof”.

Dmitry Medvedev was president of Russia in the period 2008-2012. During that period was the current president Vladimir Putin prime minister. Medvedev is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.

Britain’s The Telegraph and the Russian state news agency Tass are among those who have also mentioned the case.

– It (the conference) is also going to be visible proof of the complete impotence of the current Western elites, claims Medvedev, who is constantly firing at the West in both his own social channels and the Russian media.

Convinced that Putin and Russia must be involved

The Swiss government states that it has always been open to inviting Russia to the upcoming conference, but that the Russians have repeatedly made it clear that they are not interested. Russian authorities have pointed out that Switzerland has introduced the same sanctions against Russia as the EU after the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and therefore believe that they are not a credible peace broker.

– Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in the process. A peace process without Russia is not possible, says Switzerland’s government in the statement, according to NTB.

Dagsavisen has previously discussed Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s own peace formula. The Ukrainian president’s ten-point plan includes calls to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian forces, protection of food and energy supplies, nuclear security and the release of all prisoners.

– This is not a peace plan, because Russia is not involved. It is a list of principles of Ukraine’s full integrity, judicial settlement and compensation. It is not something that the current regime in Russia will accept, said senior researcher Karsten Friis at the Norwegian Foreign Policy Institute (Nupi) this autumn.

Proposes Ukraine measures in own plan

Dmitry Medvedev has even presented his own proposal for a peace plan.

The former Russian president has presented seven points in his plan. These include the Ukrainians to admit defeat, to surrender completely and to “demilitarize” the country. Furthermore, Medvedev wants the UN to strip Ukraine of its status as a sovereign state and for the international community to recognize Ukraine’s “Nazi character”.

– This could be the soft, Russian formula for peace, Medvedev has claimed.

– The tone of Medvedev’s post is deliberately mocking. His proposals may seem extreme, but each of the points he puts forward in his “peace formula” are central elements of the Kremlin’s ideology and justification of the war. Medvedev has only simplified these into a simple and brutal Telegram post, it was said in an analysis of Medvedev’s plan, made by the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in March this year.

Also read: Russia expert: – Putin will never give it up

Casts doubt on the former president’s power in Russia

But the Ukrainian authorities and the West are unlikely to spend much energy on the move. This autumn, chief researcher Tor Bukkvoll at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) explained that there is every reason to take Medvedev’s constant verbal and written attacks with a large pinch of salt.

– Nobody takes Medvedev seriously. Hardly anyone did when he was president. He only held office because the law did not allow Vladimir Putin to sit as president all the time, Bukkvoll told Dagsavisen.

– Medvedev had some power during his presidency, and Putin was hardly satisfied with everything he did. But Medvedev is not a person of power in Russia today, he added.

Tor Bukkvoll’s statements about the former president were supported by author and political scientist Sylo Taraku.

– Dmitry Medvedev is a loose cannon on deck, Taraku told Dagsavisen.

Also read: General: – Now we have three choices. Only one of them can stop Putin

The valve Medvedev

Taraku believes that Medvedev rather functions as a kind of “controlled valve” in Russia.

– Authoritarian regimes control the narrative during a war. At the same time, they, and in this case Vladimir Putin, know that it can be simmering under the surface, the author said.

Then there is a need for some valves, explained Taraku, so that it is not completely closed to opinions outside the official line from the Kremlin. Examples of this are Medvedev and experts from the military, who, according to the author, are allowed to unleash fascist rhetoric on Russian state television.

In an interview with the Russian media, Medvedev himself explained what lies behind his many outbursts against the West.

– The assessments of the West have changed for one simple reason. It is that we, the Russian Federation, have been treated unfairly. So that’s why the assessments have become sharper, Medvedev said, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

Medvedev added that Russia should have been tougher on the West at an earlier stage, “in every way”.

Also read: Expert on Putin’s “jewel”: – It could become worthless

Also read: Putin has had enough. Now he is building a “railway” in Ukraine

Also read: Ukrainian men die fleeing Putin’s war: – Sad and tragic

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Who is Dmitry Medvedev?

• Born on 14 September 1965 in St. Petersburg.
• Trained lawyer.
• Was Russia’s third president in the period 2008–2012. Thereafter and until January 2020, he held the post of Prime Minister. Is now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council.
• Medvedev was Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff in 1999, and managed his election campaign in 2000. Subsequently, Medvedev became chief of staff in Putin’s presidential administration. In 2005, he became first deputy prime minister. Medvedev was also chairman of the board of the giant company Gazprom in the periods 2000–2001 and 2002–2008.
• In December 2007, he was launched as a presidential candidate by Putin ahead of the Russian elections in 2008. He won by an overwhelming margin. One of his first official acts was to appoint Putin as prime minister.
• On 8 May 2012, Medvedev took over as Prime Minister. Putin took over the presidency again.

(Source: Great Norwegian Lexicon / NTB)

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