Oleksiy Reznikov, former Ukrainian defense minister: “World War III has already started”

It’s a big gathering attended by the cream of defense industrialists, politicians and the military. For three days, in Prague, Globsec brought together several hundred participants around the issues of war today and tomorrow. During a conference, Oleksiy Reznikov told L’Express about the weeks which preceded and followed the Russian invasion in Ukraine. For months, few wanted to believe that catastrophe was imminent – until it happened. Today, the former minister is urging Europeans to prepare for a threat that primarily concerns them. It also delivers a grim observation: in a world where regional conflicts have global repercussions, the Third World War has probably already begun.

L’Express: The CIA correctly assessed the Kremlin’s intentions. How did the United States warn you of an imminent invasion?

Oleksiy Reznikov: I was appointed Minister of Defense three months before the offensive, in November 2021. The timing was particularly interesting because we had different types of information. Some were contradictory. Certain partners, first of all in Washington, in London, tried to convince us of an imminent attack by Russia. At the same time, other European capitals assured us that these were only threats. We were, according to them, reliving the scenario of spring 2021. At that time, Russia had accumulated enormous troops in Crimea as well as to the east of the Ukrainian border, between Lugansk and Donetsk – around 140,000 men. The threat was tangible, but several contacts between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden helped calm things down: a first phone call upon the arrival of the new American president, followed by one or two additional calls, and a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Between fall 2021 and the start of winter 2022, the scenario seemed to repeat itself, with military exercises near the border separating Ukraine from Belarus. Once again, more than 100,000 men were mentioned.

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