MOSCOW (AP) — A prime Russian safety official warned Thursday concerning the rising menace of a nuclear conflict and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying that such motion would quantity to a declaration of conflict and set off a Russian strike on Germany.
Dmitry Medvedev, the 57-year-old deputy secretary of Russia’s Safety Council chaired by Putin, mentioned in video remarks to reporters that Russia’s relations with the West have hit an all-time backside.
Requested whether or not the specter of a nuclear battle has eased, Medvedev responded: “No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown. Day by day once they present Ukraine with international weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse nearer.”
Medvedev has issued a barrage of such strongly-worded statements prior to now, blasting the U.S. and its NATO allies for what he described as their efforts to interrupt up and destroy Russia.
In Thursday’s feedback, Medvedev denounced the Worldwide Felony Court docket’s determination to situation an arrest warrant for Putin on prices of alleged involvement in abductions of hundreds of youngsters from Ukraine as legally null and void. He famous that the transfer added to a “colossal adverse potential” within the already bitterly strained ties between Russia and the West.
“Our relationships with the West are already worse than they’ve ever been in historical past,” he mentioned.
Medvedev particularly blasted German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who mentioned final week that Putin could be arrested on the ICC’s warrant if he visits Germany.
“We could say … the chief of a nuclear energy visits the territory of Germany and is arrested,” Medvedev mentioned, including that it could quantity to a declaration of conflict towards Russia. “On this case, our property will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s workplace and so forth.”
He famous that Russia’s nuclear forces have offered a robust deterrent amid the combating in Ukraine, including that “we might have been torn to items with out them.”
Medvedev additionally challenged Ukraine’s sovereignty in feedback that might mirror Moscow’s plans to increase its features.
“Actually talking, Ukraine is a part of Russia,” he mentioned. “However as a consequence of geopolitical causes and the course of historical past we had tolerated that we have been dwelling in separate quarters and had been pressured to acknowledge these invented borders for a very long time.”
The soft-spoken and mild-mannered Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012 when time period limits pressured Putin to shift into the prime minister’s put up, was extensively seen by Western officers as extra liberal than his mentor. Many within the West anticipated Medvedev to win a second time period and additional soften the Kremlin’s insurance policies, however he stepped down to permit Putin to reclaim the presidency in what Kremlin critics denounced as a cynical manipulation.
Since Putin despatched troops into Ukraine greater than a yr in the past, Medvedev has emerged as some of the hawkish Russian officers, commonly issuing blustery remarks that embrace four-letter phrases and sound a lot more durable than these issued by the old-time Kremlin hard-liners. Observers have interpreted Medvedev’s feedback as an obvious try and curry favor with Putin.
Medvedev launched extra anti-Western diatribes Thursday, declaring that “it is ineffective to have talks” with the West and talking with contempt about Western politicians, alleging a “catastrophic drop in competence and elementary literacy of European Union leaders.”
“I’ve no illusions that we might talk with them once more any time quickly,” he mentioned. “It is not sensible to barter with sure nations and blocs — they solely perceive the language of drive.”
Medvedev. who heads a Safety Council panel coordinating weapons manufacturing, derided Western statements alleging that Russia is working out of weapons and charged Russian weapons industries have elevated output.
He mentioned that Russia will produce 1,500 battle tanks and increase manufacturing of different weapons to satisfy the military’s wants. His claims couldn’t be independently verified.
“Crucial factor now’s to make all of it in obligatory volumes, and we’re launching new factories to try this,” Medvedev mentioned.
He mentioned that the Russian army already has good intelligence drones and loitering munitions, however acknowledged that it has but to deploy long-range strike drones.