| Translate This News In |
|---|
The only thing keeping the West from starting a war against Russia, according to a top ally of President Vladimir Putin, is Russia’s nuclear arsenal and the rules Moscow has established for its use.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also stated that Moscow would continue its military campaign in Ukraine until the “disgusting, almost fascist regime” in Kiev was deposed and the country was completely demilitarised.
In a separate interview aired on Sunday, Putin stated that Russia is willing to negotiate with all parties involved in the conflict, but that Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to participate.
Medvedev, who campaigned as a liberal moderniser as president from 2008 to 2012, is one of the war’s most ardent supporters. He frequently accuses the West of wanting to break up Russia in order to benefit Ukraine.
Putin and other senior officials have repeatedly stated that Russia’s nuclear policy requires them to be used if territorial integrity is threatened.
According to experts, Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, with nearly 6,000 warheads.
Putin stated earlier this month that the risk of nuclear war was increasing, but insisted that Russia had not “gone insane” and that its nuclear arsenal was purely defensive in nature.
“The world will continue to teeter on the brink of World War Three and nuclear catastrophe,” he said if Russia does not get the security guarantees it is demanding. We will do everything we can to prevent it”.
Medvedev also stated that Russia will abandon normal relations with the West for years, if not decades, and will instead focus on relations with the rest of the world.
