Putin Ally Predicts US Will Collapse in 'Imminent New Civil War'

Putin Ally Predicts US Will Collapse in 'Imminent New Civil War'

Natalie Venegas

Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, issued a warning on Saturday predicting the United States will collapse in an "imminent new civil war" amid this year's election over Russian sanctions.

Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, Western countries have imposed sanctions on Moscow, with several thousand sanctions on Russian individuals, businesses, and government institutions. The U.S. has gradually expanded the sanctions it imposed as President Joe Biden issued an executive order in December, which allows the U.S. to directly sanction foreign banks facilitating significant transactions for Russia. Washington threatened to block such banks that conduct business with firms that support Russia's defense industry from its financial system.

In a Saturday Telegram message, Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, spoke about the current political climate of the U.S. and the 2024 presidential race, which will see former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, face off against Vice President Kamala Harris, who won the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the race on July 21.

This is not the first time Medvedev has warned of a civil war as he previously issued a warning to the U.S. on July 4, suggesting there are parallels between the American Civil War and the current U.S. political climate that hint at a "premonition of civil war."

In a July Telegram message, Medvedev acknowledged the significance of Independence Day in America, but then compared the American Civil War to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as he warned of the political climate in the U.S.

The notion of a civil war in the U.S. has been brought up before by Russian officials. In December 2023, during an appearance on state-run television, Sergei Markov, a notably pro-Putin political scientist and former adviser to the Russian leader, said that such a development would be beneficial for Moscow and would see the conflict in Ukraine end in its favor in "one week."

"We know if something really starts in America, civil war in Ukraine will stop one week later," Markov said. "Zelensky and [Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii] Zaluzhny will race all the way over here...They would go to mediators and say, 'Let's immediately put an end to all this.'"