Ukraine war to possibly go on for decades: Medvedev

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The Ukraine war could last for years, possibly for decades to come, and will reoccur after a ceasefire, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday.

"This conflict is for a very long time. It is all probably for decades. It is a new reality, new living conditions," Medvedev told journalists during his state visit to Vietnam.

"As long as there is such power there [in Kiev], there will be, let's say, three years of ceasefire, two years of conflict, and then everything will happen again. The very nature of Nazi power in Kiev must be destroyed," the Russian top official said.

Medvedev underlined on Tuesday that NATO was not assessing the possibility of a nuclear war rationally, noting that events could unfold "unpredictably" and escalate past the point of no return.

He put the responsibility for such an event solely on NATO.

"Otherwise, NATO would not have supplied such dangerous weapons to the Ukrainian regime. So, apparently, they believe that a nuclear conflict, or a nuclear apocalypse, is impossible because it is never possible," Medvedev told the RT broadcaster. 

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This comes after EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell revealed that the 27-nation bloc supplied Kiev with 220,000 artillery ammunition and 1,300 missiles since the start of the war.

In a similar vein, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday that the ongoing deliveries to Ukraine by the West were prolonging the conflict, noting that Eastern Europe was witnessing the "tensest situation".

"The West is insisting that the Kiev regime show tactical successes and a readiness to fight ‘to the last Ukrainian,’ pumping it with weapons with no regard for losses. Military and technical aid to Kiev has already exceeded $65 billion," he told a meeting in Minsk of the Council of Defense Ministers under the Collective Security Treaty Organization CSTO.

"More than 2,500 foreign mercenaries are implicated in punitive actions and combat operations," the Defense Minister said. "Terrorist methods of fighting are being employed, including sabotage and high-profile assassinations."

Shoigu pointed out that Washington and its allies are resorting to "destructive measures" to create "hotbeds of tension" in the vicinity of CSTO countries, stressing that this is leading to a negative impact.