CNN —
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, warned Thursday that a Russian defeat in Ukraine could lead to a nuclear conflict.
The former Russian president made the threat in a Telegram post ahead of a key meeting of NATO allies and other nations in Germany, where they are expected to pledge additional military support to Kyiv.
“The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war,” Medvedev wrote. “Nuclear powers do not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends.
“That should be clear to everyone. Even for a Western politician who has retained at least a trace of intelligence.”
Medvedev, who was President of Russia from 2008 to 2012, struck a bellicose tone during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and repeatedly raised the specter of a nuclear conflict.
Last April he warned of a Russian nuclear expansion should Sweden and Finland join NATO, and in September he said strategic nuclear weapons could be used to defend areas annexed to Russia against Ukraine.
His comments on Thursday, no doubt aimed at intimidating NATO partners, also appear to be a rare admission from a senior Russian official that the Kremlin could potentially lose out in Ukraine as Moscow’s faltering invasion nears the 11-month mark.
The nuclear rhetoric comes just days after Moscow announced it would be bolstering its armed forces over the “proxy war” the West is said to be fighting in Ukraine.
Putin has expressed similar sentiments in recent months, saying in December that the conflict “will last a while” and warning of the “growing” threat of nuclear war.
The US has previously warned Russia against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, both through private direct communications and through public channels, including at last year’s UN General Assembly.
On Friday, NATO’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group will convene in Germany for a meeting hosted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the US Ramstein Air Base, which will focus on increased military aid to Ukraine.
The Pentagon on Thursday announced a $2.5 billion security package for Ukraine, as the US and its European allies debate whether to send increasingly sophisticated weapons to Kyiv, including long-range missiles, enabling Ukraine to do so would be able to hit targets up to 200 miles away.
The UK, Poland, Finland and the Baltic states have all pushed for NATO members to ship heavier equipment to Kyiv in what they say is a major turning point in the war. Both Ukraine and Russia appear to be preparing for fresh offensives, and there are signs Moscow may be preparing for additional troop mobilizations.
But the US and Germany remain in a stalemate. German officials have said they will not send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine unless the US also sends its M1 Abrams tanks – something the Pentagon has repeatedly said it would not do because of the logistical costs of theirs maintenance will not do.
Western tanks would represent the most powerful direct offensive weapon yet made available to Ukraine, and if used properly could allow Ukraine to retake territory against Russian forces that have had time to dig defensive lines.
Other Russian officials have also issued warnings ahead of Friday’s meeting, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying on Thursday that Western talks about supplying arms to Ukraine were “extremely dangerous”.
It “would not bode well for European security,” he added.