Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, has outlined Russia’s primary objectives regarding the West, emphasizing that Russia’s task is to weaken Western influence until the U.S. collapses or, at the very least, to re-establish a global counterbalance similar to that of the Soviet Union era. In a post shared on his Telegram channel on Monday, Medvedev stressed that Russia’s goals align with policies dating back over a century.

Quoting a Russian poet, Medvedev stated that “the only true Russian policy toward Western countries is not an alliance with one or another of these powers, but disunion, separation from them,” suggesting that only by distancing from the West can Russia avoid Western hostility. He argued that the West’s antagonism toward Moscow will only subside “out of impotence, of course, never out of conviction.” He added that “unfortunately, nothing has changed in the last 160 years,” emphasizing:

The tasks remain the same: the maximum weakening and humiliation of the West, including Europe.

Medvedev also argued that the U.S. inadvertently aids Russia in this endeavor. “The United States, because their goal is to dominate the Old World (as well as the rest of the world),” helps drive Moscow’s objectives. The Russian official stressed, as reported by Tass:

There can be only one goal — the collapse of the United States itself. Or — at least — the creation of a full-fledged counterweight to America, as it was during the existence of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

In closing, Medvedev highlighted emerging international alliances as a sign of shifting global power dynamics. “And here we can already see the prospects for a new balance: the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation], BRICS, other regional alliances, and the full development of relations with the countries of the Global South,” he said, pointing to these organizations as potential alternatives to U.S. dominance.