An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was not bluffing about using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine, warning that the conflict could spread to other countries.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the remarks after President Biden quietly gave Kiev the go-ahead to fire U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets just across Russia’s border in support of an attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
“Unfortunately, this is neither a threat nor a bluff,” Medvedev said on Friday about the possible use of strategic nuclear weapons, according to Reuters.
Zelensky says Ukraine is trying to attack Russian targets with Western weapons
Dmitry Medvedev, a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin (right), said Russia was not bluffing about using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine and warned that the conflict could spill over to other countries. President Biden (left) has quietly given Kyiv the go-ahead to launch U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets across the border. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images | Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Russia has a base just across the border that could enable it to attack Ukraine, and President Biden has authorized Ukraine to use American weapons to strike back if Russian forces are attacking or preparing to attack Ukraine, a move backed by Germany.
The White House has said the policy is limited and prohibits the use of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) in Russia or long-range strikes.
In March, the United States quietly delivered its first long-range ATACMS to Ukraine, which has since deployed them to counter Russian forces in Ukraine.
“Russia believes that all long-range weapons used by Ukraine are already under the direct control of military personnel of NATO countries,” Medvedev said on Friday.
“This is not military assistance, it is participation in a war against us, and such actions can become casus belli (acts that provoke war),” Medvedev told Reuters on Friday.
Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, said continued Western support for Ukraine could lead to an escalation of the full-scale invasion, now 27 months old.
“The current military conflict with the West is unfolding in line with the worst-case scenario. The firepower of NATO weapons in use is constantly escalating. Therefore, no one today can deny the possibility of the conflict moving to the final stage,” Medvedev said.
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Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev gives an interview to Russian media at his home outside Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2023. (Sputnik/Ekaterina Shtukhin/Pool via Reuters)
The comments come as Ukraine’s stunted military struggles to contain the war, just weeks after the United States agreed to send an additional $60 billion in aid to war-torn Ukraine, which has endured a Russian offensive on the border in Kharkiv this month that has left Kiev’s troops outgunned and outmanned.
The White House says the Russian advance has stalled and that Russia will not be able to take Kharkiv.
The White House told Fox News that Russian forces had advanced only a few kilometres before coming under relentless Ukrainian attacks and suffering heavy casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that it was only a matter of time before Ukraine would use Western weapons to attack Russian territory.
These developments and threats of escalating tensions come just weeks after NATO Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Brown, said the alliance would eventually send military trainers to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.
Ukrainian authorities have reportedly asked their US and NATO counterparts to train 150,000 new soldiers closer to the front line for faster deployment.
Republican Rep. Eli Klain of Arizona told Fox News Digital at the time that sending military trainers would lead to more war in the region.
Medvedev’s comments on Friday were not the first time he has taken a tough stance against the West: In January he warned Britain that sending ground troops to Ukraine would be tantamount to declaring war on Russia.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) greets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) before their meeting in Kyiv, May 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via Associated Press)
In January, he warned NATO allies about the possibility of nuclear war. Russia’s defeat in Ukraine It could lead to a nuclear war.
“The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war could lead to the start of a nuclear war,” he said in a Telegram post.
“Nuclear-weapon states [never] They lost a major conflict on which their fate depends,” the Kremlin official added.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
