Russian Official Has New Prediction for How World War III Will Start

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, on Thursday warned recent actions by Poland may cause the country to have a direct confrontation with Russia and Belarus, which could result in the start of World War III.

Medvedev, who also served as Russia's president from 2008-2012, made the comments in an article he wrote for the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

The inflammatory statements are not unusual for Medvedev, who has emerged as one of the Kremlin's most vocal critics of Ukraine's allies. He has publicly stated on multiple occasions that Russia could attack NATO members for providing Ukraine with assistance. In December 2022, he went so far as to call Ukraine's Western allies "legitimate military targets." More recently, he said last month that Russia is prepared to engage in direct conflict with NATO member states.

According to Medvedev's Rossiyskaya Gazeta article, Poland's aid to Ukraine could cause the conflict to escalate into a global war.

Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin attend meeting
Dmitry Medvedev (L), deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meet with members of the government in Moscow on January 15, 2020. Medvedev wrote in an article published on Thursday that recent actions by Poland could lead to World War III. Photo by ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty Images

"Poland's own military buildup and Polish military presence in Ukraine may trigger a direct confrontation between Warsaw and Belarus and Russia," Medvedev wrote. "In this case, the allied group will give an appropriate response to prevent threats that stem from the evil ambitions of the Polish establishment."

He continued: "Poland's reckless actions, if rashly supported by its NATO allies, may have far-reaching dangerous consequences for the entire world. And then Poland will fulfill the role of 'the hyena of Europe' that unleashed World War III."

Newsweek reached out to the foreign ministries for Poland and Russia via email for comment.

Elsewhere in the article, Medvedev accused Poland of having an ulterior motive for its support of Ukraine, claiming the country "strives for only one thing—to ensure its total dominance in the region by establishing control over the states located between Warsaw and Moscow."

He also offered a brief history of Russian-Polish relations through the years before further disparaging the "evil ambitions" of leaders in Warsaw as well as claiming members of the European Union harbor a "poorly-concealed hatred" for Poland.

"Now the leading EU states consider the Polish authorities to be malicious upstarts who selfishly use all its institutions solely for their own selfish purposes, without contributing anything to the European treasury," the Russian official wrote.

"It can be assumed that ultimately this will contribute to the destabilization of the EU structure itself, up to a full-fledged showdown within the 'friendly' European family and even the collapse of the European Union through the fault of Poland."

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine... Read more

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