MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. Israel's actions against Iran are similar to Vladimir Zelensky's actions against Russia: both sides want to draw Washington into the conflict, Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the Other Ukraine movement and former leader of the Opposition Platform - For Life party banned in Ukraine, said.
He recalled that the new US administration, led by President Donald Trump, came to power with a peace-oriented agenda; specifically, the White House aimed to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. However, in the early morning hours of June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting Iran's nuclear program. "Israel is acting according to Zelensky's plan. Israel's strike on Iran was carried out to bolster its negotiating position, and Kiev attacked Russian strategic airfields for the same reason. Zelensky did not need negotiations; he wants to entangle the US in a conflict with Russia by any means necessary," Medvedchuk wrote in his exclusive column for the Smotrim.ru media platform. "It turns out that both Israel and Zelensky's Ukraine are demanding that the US resolve their issues, even at the cost of American lives," the politician pointed out.
According to him, "the strike on Iran could not have been executed without Washington's prior knowledge, no matter how much they deny it." "It turns out that, on the one hand, we condemn the escalation of tensions, and on the other hand, we help strike those with whom we have decided to negotiate. Naturally, Iran then withdrew from the negotiations [with the US] in Oman," he emphasized.
At the same time, Medvedchuk noted that Trump had cornered himself, "because you can't be both a peacemaker and a party to the conflict." "You can't finance Ukraine, send weapons, military information, and specialists there, and then demand an end to the war," the politician said.
In his opinion, the current US president should understand the situation in both cases and keep his distance from the parties to the conflict. "After all, participating in conflicts on the side of Ukraine or Israel will not resolve anything, but will only push the world toward World War III, which Trump spoke so eloquently about during the election. Trump should not follow Zelensky's example and turn serious geopolitical issues into a bloody spectacle. Only dedicated work and an equal distance from the parties involved will help resolve the conflicts," Medvedchuk concluded.