Medvedev: Russia’s nukes prevent West from declaring war on Russia

The opinion that Russia’s nuclear arsenal has prevented the West from declaring war on it was expressed by the country’s former president, Dmitry Medvedevin an article published on Sunday.

The current vice president of its Security Council of Russiaunderlines that Moscow will continue the “special military operation” in Ukraine until the “disgusting, almost fascist regime” in Kyiv is removed from power and the country is fully demilitarized.

For his part, Vladimir Putin has said Russia is ready to negotiate with all sides involved in the war in Ukraine, but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused dialogue.

Medvedev, who was seen as a liberal modernizer during his presidency (2008-2012), is one of the staunchest supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He regularly denounces the West, which he accuses of aspiring to break up Russia for the benefit of Ukraine.

“Is the West ready to launch an all-out war against us, even with the use of nukes, led by Kyiv?” asks Menvedev in a 4,500-word article published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

“The only thing stopping our enemies today is that they have understood that the government of Russia is guided by the fundamental principles of nuclear deterrence policy. And in case a real threat arises, he will take action against them.”he emphasizes.

President Putin and other top Russian government officials have repeatedly stated that Russia’s defense doctrine dictates that nuclear weapons can only be used if the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation is threatened.

Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal in the worldwith nearly 6,000 nuclear warheads, according to expert estimates.

A few weeks ago, the Russian president warned that the risk of a nuclear war was rising, but insisted that Moscow “has not gone mad” and that it still sees its nuclear arsenal only as a purely defensive, deterrent.

“The West is balancing between its burning desire to humiliate, insult, dismember and destroy Russia as much as possible, and the will to avoid a nuclear Apocalypse”Medvedev argues.

If Russia doesn’t get the security guarantees it demands, he said, “the world will be dragged steadily to the brink of World War III and nuclear annihilation. We will do everything we can to prevent this.”

Finally, Medvedev noted that Russia could forget for a few – perhaps even decades – ties with the West and focus on its relations with the rest of the world.