Russia's nuclear threats over Ukraine not mere bluff, says Medvedev

Russia is serious about the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine, saying that Moscow’s conflict with the West could escalate into a full-scale war, Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev warned on Friday. Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a former president, said that the conflict is unfolding according to the worst-case scenario and that the transition to its final stage cannot be ruled out.

Medvedev also said that Russia regards all long-range weapons used by Ukraine as already being directly controlled by servicemen from NATO countries. This is no military assistance, this is participation in a war against us, he said.

“And such actions could well become a casus belli (an act that provokes a war).“Medvedev, who has become one of the Kremlin’s most hardline hawks, was commenting after four US officials told Reuters on Thursday that U.S. President Joe Biden had quietly authorised Kyiv to launch US-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia that are supporting an offensive against the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

Medvedev, whose statements diplomats say give a flavour of what senior people in the Kremlin are thinking, said it would be a “fatal mistake” on the part of the West to think that Russia was not ready to use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine. He also spoke of the potential to strike unnamed hostile countries with strategic nuclear weapons.

“This is, alas, neither intimidation nor bluffing,” said Medvedev. “The current military conflict with the West is developing according to the worst possible scenario. There is a constant escalation when it comes to the firepower of NATO weapons being used. Therefore, nobody today can rule out the conflict’s transition to its final stage,” he said.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Meanwhile, the German government said Friday that Ukraine can use German-supplied weapons against Russian attacks from positions just over their joint border, in a significant policy change that came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the country’s second-largest city.

With inputs from agencies.