A top Russian security official has warned about the rising threat of a nuclear war and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying such action would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin, said in video remarks to reporters that Russia’s relations with the West have hit an all-time bottom.
Asked whether the threat of a nuclear conflict has eased, Medvedev responded: “No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown”.
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“Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer,” he said.
He has issued a barrage of such strongly worded statements in the past, blasting the US and its NATO allies for what he described as their efforts to break up and destroy Russia.
It’s been a drastic metamorphosis for the gentle-looking politician, who once was hailed by the West as a liberal hope.
In Thursday’s comments, the 57-year-old Medvedev denounced the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine as legally null and void.
He noted that the move added to a “colossal negative potential” in the already bitterly strained ties between Russia and the West.
“Our relations with the West are already worse than they have ever been in history,” he said.
Medvedev specifically blasted German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who said last week that Putin would be arrested on the ICC’s warrant if he visits Germany.
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“Let’s imagine … the leader of a nuclear power visits the territory of Germany and is arrested,” Medvedev said, adding that it would amount to a declaration of war against Russia.
“In this case, our assets will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s office and so on.”
He noted that Russia’s nuclear forces have provided a strong deterrent amid the fighting in Ukraine, adding that “we would have been torn to pieces without them”.
In other news, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to respond after Russian missiles strikes killed at least eight people in the Kyiv region and injured about 30 people in the Zaporizhzhia region.