Putin Ally Dmitry Medvedev Warns NATO That Russian Defeat Could Lead To Nuclear War

Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of President Vladimir Putin and deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, claimed on Thursday that a Russian defeat in Ukraine could lead to nuclear conflict.

Medvedev, himself a former Russian president, issued the warning in a Telegram post ahead of a meeting in Germany among NATO allies who promised additional military support to Ukraine.

The former Russian president wrote: “The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war. Nuclear powers do not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends.”

While his statements were intended to deter NATO members, they represent one of the rare instances of a senior Russian official admitting that Russia could lose in its war with Ukraine.

This comes days after Russia vowed to increase its military forces due to the “proxy war” against the West in Ukraine. Putin considers the war as an existential battle with a dangerous West that threatens Russia and its people.

The United States previously informed Russia to not use nuclear weapons at last year’s United Nations General Assembly.

On Friday, January 20, NATO members will meet at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to discuss offering more military aid to Ukraine.

The United Kingdom, Finland, Poland and many Baltic states have advocated for NATO to provide Ukraine with more weaponry before Russia mobilizes additional troops.

However, Germany has stated that it won’t send its Leopard tanks unless the United States offers its M1 Abrams tanks. This machinery is something the Pentagon has declared that it would not provide because of the exorbitant costs to maintain them.

These tanks would theoretically allow Ukraine to break Russian defensive lines and retake territory.

Putin and his top officials have said that the billions of dollars of military aid from the United States and its European allies demonstrate that Russia is at war with NATO itself, threatening a much larger conflict.