Top Russian official Dmitry Medvedev, who was the country's president from 2008 to 2012, today warned the US to take Russia's nuclear warnings seriously to avoid World War III, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Medvedev, who is the deputy chairman of Russia's influential Security Council, told RT television that high-ranking American officials do not want World War III to break out, but for some reason they believe “that the Russians will never to cross a certain line“.
„They are wrong”, Medvedev said, adding that Moscow believes the current political institutions in the US and Europe lack the “foresight and mental finesse” demonstrated by the late Henry Kissinger.
„If we are talking about the existence of our country, as the president of our country has repeatedly said, your obedient servant has said and others have said, of course, we will simply have no other choice,” Medvedev pointed out.
The two-and-a-half-year-old war in Ukraine is entering its most dangerous phase, according to Russian officials, as Russian forces advance in eastern Ukraine and the West considers how to help the Ukrainian side.
For several weeks, Russia has signaled that Moscow will respond if the US and its allies help Ukraine launch long-range missiles deep into Russian territory, and NATO claims that North Korea has sent troops into western Russia, says Reuters.
Russian officials say Western leaders have not heard the signals Moscow has sent about security in Europe and the escalating war in Ukraine.
US diplomats say relations with Russia are worse than at any time since the height of the Cold War, but that Washington does not want to escalate the war in Ukraine.