The Kremlin has stepped up a threat from Vladimir Putin’s close ally, Dmitry Medvedev, who said Russia’s defeat on the battlefield in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war with the West.
Following his warning on Thursday, Moscow confirmed that his inflammatory statements were fully consistent with Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
The former Russian president appeared to warn NATO leaders against halting shipments of key new weapons to Kyiv, while western allies meet at Ramstein Air Base Germany on Friday to focus on whether Berlin can start supplying its Leopard 2 main battle tanks Allowing them into Kyiv will help drive out Russian forces.
“Tomorrow at the Ramstein base in [Germany]Major military leaders will discuss new tactics and strategies, as well as deliveries of new heavy weapons and attack systems to Ukraine,” Medvedev said.
Vladimir Putin’s ally Dmitry Medvedev has threatened the West with a nuclear war in Ukraine and is beating Russia on the battlefield. Pictured: A Sartmat ICBM test can be seen in Russian footage (file)
The former Russian president, now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council (pictured center January 10 inspecting a military repair plant in Saint Petersburg) appeared to warn NATO leaders to halt shipments of key new weapons to Kyiv
“And that’s right after the Davos Forum, where it was underdeveloped [Western] Partisans repeat like a mantra: “To achieve peace, Russia must lose.”
Losing Russia would trigger a nuclear war, said Medvedev, who once held his finger on the Kremlin’s nuclear trigger as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012.
He strongly implied that the fate of his boss Putin, and that of Russia, depended on the Russian despot not being defeated in the bloody war he started 11 months ago.
“None of the miserable enters the idea of drawing the following elementary conclusion: that the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war could provoke a nuclear war.
“Nuclear powers have not lost major conflicts on which their fate depends. And that should be clear to everyone.
“Even a western politician with a trace of intelligence.”
Medvedev followed in Putin’s footsteps as president in 2008 for a four-year term, during which time Putin became prime minister of Russia. The move was seen as largely symbolic as Putin retains ultimate power.
When he first became president in 2008, he pledged to modernize and liberalize Russia and often spoke of his love of gadgets and blogging. He even visited California and got a brand new iPhone 4 from Apple founder Steve Jobs.
But he has since rebooted his political persona and now frequently starts ranting on the Telegram messaging app to his followers about Russia’s place in the world and his hatred of the West.
Observers have said his new role is a desperate attempt to remain relevant in Moscow’s political circles, which have darkened significantly since he left the presidency and Putin reclaimed the top post in the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, rumors have swirled about Medvedev’s increasing drinking, with Putin telling him to step down as prime minister and instead giving him the token job of deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council — which Putin, like many other political organizations in Moscow, has ultimate control over.
Now, some analysts see Medvedev positioning himself for a new term as Kremlin president if Putin is forced out of office for ill health or dissatisfaction.
Medvedev recently threatened to jail Russian arms manufacturers who failed to deliver missiles and tanks in time for the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has pleaded for modern Western weaponry, particularly heavy battle tanks, so that after some successes on the battlefield it can regain momentum in the second half of 2022 against Russian forces that invaded last February. Pictured: A Ukrainian tank crew is seen operating a Soviet-era T-72 January 18 in Ukraine’s Donetsk region
Ukrainian tankers carry out maintenance work on their tanks on the Donbass frontline as military mobility continues within the Russo-Ukrainian war on January 18, 2023
His anger underscored the Kremlin’s desperation to bring more weapons to the front lines while the West ramps up its battlefield aid to Ukraine, particularly with the arrival of heavy tanks from NATO countries.
Inspecting the 61st Armored Vehicle Repair Plant in St. Petersburg, he warned: “The tasks here are obvious and must be addressed without delay, without interrupting approved deadlines.”
He criticized failures in the timely delivery of military equipment. “In case of repeated violations, I would like to remind you that a special criminal punishment has been introduced [under] of the Russian Criminal Code,” he said, alluding to ten years in prison.
On Thursday, Ukraine urged its western allies – without any Medvedev-like threats – to hurry and stock Kyiv with tanks and air defenses, saying it was paying with Ukrainian lives on the front lines for the slow pace of discussions in foreign capitals.
Ukraine has pleaded for modern Western weaponry, particularly heavy battle tanks, so that after some successes on the battlefield it can regain momentum in the second half of 2022 against Russian forces that invaded last February.
“We don’t have time, the world doesn’t have that time,” Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said via messaging app Telegram.
Western allies meet Friday at Ramstein Air Base Germany.
“The issue of tanks for Ukraine must be resolved as soon as possible. As is the question of additional air defense systems,” Yermak said in a statement. We are paying for the slowness with the lives of our Ukrainian people.
“It shouldn’t be like that,” he said.
Pictured: A relative views the site of a helicopter crash amid the Russian attack on Ukraine in the town of Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 19, 2023
His comments echo an appeal made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address to the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Zelenskyy said tanks and air defense units should be delivered faster than Russia can carry out its next attacks.
This week Britain increased the pressure on Germany by becoming the first western country to send western tanks and promising Challenger 2 heavy tanks.
Almost 11 months since Russia invaded its neighbors, Moscow’s forces have held parts of eastern and southern Ukraine. The momentum on the battlefield has been with Kyiv for months, but Moscow has expended tremendous resources trying to advance to the east.
Leopard tanks are held by a number of NATO countries, but their shipment to Ukraine requires German approval.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Kyiv has appealed to the nations that have Leopard 2 tanks – Greece, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Finland and Sweden – to deliver these.
But Berlin has veto power over any decision to export its tanks, which are used by NATO-allied armies across Europe and are considered by experts to be the most suitable for Ukraine.
In the past few days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly stressed behind closed doors the condition that US tanks should also be sent to Ukraine, the federal government source said on condition of anonymity.
When asked about Germany’s stance, US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, said: “The President believes that each country should make its own sovereign decisions about what steps of security assistance and what kind of equipment it should provide.” Ukraine can provide.”
NATO allies have tried to avoid the risk of a direct confrontation with Russia and have refrained from sending their most powerful weapons to Ukraine.