Moscow, December 15, 2024 – The Europe Today: Former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, indicated on Saturday that the Russian Federation could consider welcoming more territories in the future. Speaking at the ongoing United Russia party congress, Medvedev discussed the party’s efforts to incorporate and develop the newly joined regions and suggested that such experience might prove useful if more territories were to join Russia in the future.
“This experience may be in demand in the future if new regions very close to us appear in our country, because this is possible,” Medvedev stated.
Medvedev’s comments followed the 2022 incorporation of four former Ukrainian territories into Russia, following controversial referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, where the local populations voted to join Russia. These actions followed the 2014 annexation of Crimea, a historically Russian region, which also voted to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia.
The legitimacy of these referendums has been widely disputed by Ukraine and its Western allies, with Kiev insisting on its territorial claims over these regions and vowing to regain control. However, Russia has consistently maintained that the regions are now part of its territory and has urged Ukraine to accept the “new realities on the ground.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from these territories is a key condition for peace talks.
Medvedev’s remarks come amid ongoing tensions over the future of territories contested between Russia and Ukraine, raising the possibility of further territorial changes in the region.
