In an article for the Russian publication Rossiyskaya Gazeta, titled "Mankind must finally get rid of the colonial system's legacy; the time of metropolises is over", the Russian ex-president also called for the UN to require former colonial powers to pay compensation to the victims of such actions.
"It is necessary to bring to the forefront the study of the crimes of colonialism, which have no expiration date," Medvedev wrote. "We believe that reparations to the victims of neocolonial practices should be based on clear, legally verified and substantiated evidence [...] a clear legal assessment of their activities is also necessary."
Taking into account that slave traders removed more than 12 million people from the territory of Africa, reparations for the transatlantic slave trade may amount to at least $100 trillion, the senior Russian official said.
Giving examples of modern neo-colonial practices, Medvedev said the West was profiting from poor countries under the guise of providing them with humanitarian aid, citing as an example the unfair distribution of grain under the recent Black Sea Initiative amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
"The neo-colonizers are also happy to profit from humanitarian aid, shamelessly taking the last piece of bread from poor countries. Take, for example, the situation with the distribution of Ukrainian grain within the framework of the Black Sea Initiative, which was proposed in the interests of food-insecure states in Africa and Asia. As a result, the poorest countries received only about 3% of the total," he said.
Medvedev also argued that Western countries are using the mechanisms of "debt neocolonialism" by giving unfavorable loans to states in the global South in order to maintain their influence over them. He noted that Western countries have always been obsessed with the idea of gaining political control over the rest of the world in order to dominate the international arena.
The deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council emphasized that in the absence of economic independence, one cannot speak of real freedom of a country. In his opinion, such countries are "doomed to make decisions based on the opinion of their creditors."
In the same vein, the politician assumed that France, for example, will try to maintain its hidden monetary presence in Africa as long as possible, since it is vital for Paris.
However, anti-neocolonial rhetoric is sounding increasingly stronger, and the Western liberal model has lost its attractiveness. The polycentric world order will be pragmatic, and the key to economic stability will be the diversification of ties, as Medvedev noted in his article.
There will be no place for sanctions in the new world order, he said, adding that the time has come to radically increase the interaction of all progressive forces in the fight against neocolonialism.
The former leader stressed that the West will resist attempts to eradicate neocolonialism.
He also wrote that during its chairmanship of the BRICS group, which unites 10 of the world's largest emerging economies, Russia, together with its partners, hopes to create conditions for BRICS-African Union cooperation to reach a new qualitative level.
"We hope that through joint efforts with our partners, the preconditions will be created for raising cooperation in the BRICS-African Union format to a new qualitative level, based on increasing the role of BRICS in the peaceful resolution of conflicts and ensuring compliance with international law," Medvedev stated.
The Russian politician believes that a new system of international relations based on the principles of respect and non-interference will take shape in the near future.
"One way to address the challenges of eliminating the socio-economic manifestations of neocolonialism may be to strengthen the coordination of approaches of the majority of the countries in the world to the formation of an entirely new system of international relations based on the principles of respect and benevolent non-interference. Solving these issues is a matter for the very near future," Medvedev concluded.