NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE IS ‘CLOSER’, RUSSIA’S SECURITY CHIEF SAYS AS HE SLAMS WEST

• Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, says relations with the West have hit an all-time low and nuclear threat has grown

Deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev launched anti-Western diatribes and the threat of a nuclear apocalypse. Photo: EPA-EFE

A top Russian security official warned on Thursday about the rising threat of a nuclear war and blasted a German politician for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying that such action would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany.

Dmitry Medvedev, the 57-year-old deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin, said in video remarks to reporters that Russia’s relations with the West have hit an all-time low.

Asked whether the threat of a nuclear conflict has eased, Medvedev responded: “No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown. Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer.”

Medvedev has issued a barrage of such strongly-worded statements in the past, blasting the US and its Nato allies for what he described as their efforts to break up and destroy Russia.

In Thursday’s comments, Medvedev denounced the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine as legally null and void.

He noted that the move added to a “colossal negative potential” in the already bitterly strained ties between Russia and the West.

“Our relations with the West are already worse than they have ever been in history,” he said.

Medvedev specifically blasted German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who said last week that Putin would be arrested on the ICC’s warrant if he visits Germany.

“Let’s imagine … the leader of a nuclear power visits the territory of Germany and is arrested”, Medvedev said, adding that it would amount to a declaration of war against Russia.

“In this case, our assets will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s office and so on”.

He noted that Russia’s nuclear forces have provided a strong deterrent amid the fighting in Ukraine, adding that “we would have been torn to pieces without them”.

Medvedev also challenged Ukraine’s sovereignty in comments that could reflect Moscow’s plans to extend its gains.

“Honestly speaking, Ukraine is part of Russia. But due to geopolitical reasons and the course of history we had tolerated that we were living in separate quarters and had been forced to acknowledge those invented borders for a long time,”