Medvedev's new warning: Russia's defeat could mean nuclear war

Dmitry Medvedev / Photo EPA-EFE / YULIA ZYRYANOVA

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO that Russia's defeat in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war, while the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said the world would end if the West tried to destroy Russia. Reuters.

Such rhetoric is intended to deter the US-led NATO military alliance from getting further involved in the war, ahead of a meeting of Ukrainian allies to discuss sending more weapons to Kyiv.

But the explicit admission that Russia could lose on the battlefield marked a rare moment of public doubt from a prominent member of Putin's inner circle.

"The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war could trigger a nuclear war," former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as vice chairman of Putin's powerful Security Council, said in a Telegram post.

"Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends," said Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012.

Medvedev said NATO and other defense leaders, who are due to meet Friday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss strategy and support for the West's bid to defeat Russia in Ukraine, should consider the risks of their policies.

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