If Russia loses in Ukraine, nuclear war may start, Medvedev
Former Russian President and close ally of current President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, has threatened the Western defense alliance, NATO, with a possible nuclear war. He said that Russia’s defeat in Ukraine could lead to war with nuclear weapons
The war that started in the end of February last year with the Russian military intervention in Ukraine has been going on for about eleven months and so far both warring sides have suffered tremendous loss of life and money. Many sanctions have been imposed on Russia, but it is also openly providing military support to Ukraine against the Russian army. On the contrary, Russia thought that it would win its war campaign against Ukraine very soon, but it did not happen and Moscow is still facing huge casualties and financial losses in this war. Russia is still unwilling to admit that it will be very difficult to win this war.
‘Nuclear powers don’t lose wars’
In the background of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Dmitry Medvedev, who served as the Russian president in the past and is a very close ally of the current president Putin, wrote in a statement on the social media platform Telegram today, Thursday, January 19, “A nuclear power Defeat in a conventional war could also trigger a war with nuclear weapons
Dmitry Medvedev, who held the position of president from 2008 to 2012, is also the deputy head of Russia’s very powerful Security Council under the leadership of current President Putin. “Nuclear powers to date have never failed in a major conflict that could determine their future,” he wrote in his post on Telegram.
A clear warning to NATO
Dmitry Medvedev made this statement at a time when an important meeting of the defense ministers of the member countries of the Western Defense Alliance NATO is being held tomorrow, Friday, January 20, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
In this meeting, the co-ministers will discuss the support of the Kiev government for the military defeat of Russia in Ukraine and the strategy of the Western world so far related to this war.
In this context, Dmitry Medvedev wrote in his statement that the defense ministers of NATO member states and other countries should also consider what kind of risks their strategy carries.
As far as the comparison of the military power of Russia and NATO is concerned, NATO has an advantage over Russia in terms of conventional combat power and military equipment. But in terms of nuclear weapons, in Europe, where the war in Ukraine is ongoing, Russia has an advantage over NATO.
Putin’s position on the Ukrainian war
On February 24, 2022, President Putin, who ordered Moscow’s armed forces to intervene in Ukraine, refrains from calling this conflict a regular war on a military and political level.
According to Vladimir Putin, the Russian military campaign against Ukraine is a “special military operation” by Moscow, and in this conflict, Russia is allegedly engaged in a struggle for survival against an arrogant and aggressive West.
President Putin has also said that Russia will use all available means to protect itself and the Russian people against any aggressor country.
The position of the western world
The Russian-Ukrainian war has been the deadliest conflict in continental Europe since World War II. In addition, this war has become the biggest conflict between Moscow and the Western world since the crisis caused by the plan to install missiles on Cuban soil in 1962.
Russia has been condemned by the United States and its allies for the war in Ukraine, saying that the military intervention in Ukraine was initiated by Russia for imperialist occupation of Ukrainian territory.
As for Ukraine itself, the Kiev government has repeatedly said that Ukraine will continue to fight against Russia until the last Russian soldier is expelled from Ukrainian territory.