Dmitri Medvedev (Ekaterina Shtukina/AiF photo fair use)
Moscow, July 18 (KCNA) ― Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitri Medvedev emphasized the inevitability of the special military operations (SVO) in an interview with the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" (AiF) on July 17.
He said that Russia had been patient for a long time. While observing NATO's deployment of military infrastructure near its borders, persecution of Russian compatriots in the Baltics, implementation of sanctions and Ukraine's indiscreet Russophobia policy, said he, Russia had been trying to find a compromise.
As those efforts did not bear fruit, so Russia had to move to a direct military response within the framework of the SVO, said he, before adding that Russia should not count on "intelligence, will, and peacefulness" of its current enemies.
Source: kcna.kp (Juche113.7.19.) *From Korean to English by Koreanistas
From interview Medvedev gave to AiF
We have been patient for a long time. We hoped that we were dealing not with cynical and lying enemies, but with our opponents, albeit long-standing and very unfriendly ones. We respected their right to their own position and sought to find a compromise on contentious issues. Even observing the rabid Russophobic policy of Kiev, the deployment of NATO military infrastructure in close proximity to our borders, the humiliation and oppression of our compatriots in the Baltics, the introduction of sanctions, the anti-Crimean and anti-Donbass hysteria. It did not work. We had to move to a direct military response within the framework of the SVO.
...
In any case, Russia will act in strict accordance with the UN Charter and key documents, and generally accepted norms of international law. And as long as we can prevent a global catastrophe, we strive to do so. It is sad that such motives are not characteristic of our current enemies. We cannot count on their intelligence, will, and peacefulness yet.
*From Russian to English by Google Translate