Moscow’s latest broadside comes as European countries rush to investigate unexplained, massive leaks in two Russian natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, which could trigger explosions and any ships entering the area. The ship was in danger of sinking.
The Kremlin, which has blamed technical problems for earlier cuts to Russian gas supplies to Europe, said it could not rule out sabotage, without saying who was to blame.
Russia’s confrontation with the West has fueled global inflation and fueled energy and food crises in many countries since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which has faced tough Western sanctions and Russian retaliation. happened
The nuclear warning Tuesday from Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was one of several issued by Putin and his allies in recent weeks.
Analysts say they are designed to deter Ukraine and the West by signaling a readiness to use strategic nuclear weapons to defend the newly annexed territory, where Russian forces have come under heavy pressure from Ukraine in recent weeks. There have been reprisals.
Medvedev’s warning differed from previous ones in that he predicted for the first time that the NATO military alliance would not risk a nuclear war and would directly enter the war in Ukraine even if Moscow attacked Ukraine with nuclear weapons. .
“I believe that NATO will not directly intervene in the conflict even in this scenario,” Medvedev said in a post on Telegram.
“The demagogues across the ocean and in Europe are not going to die in a nuclear apocalypse.”
The first partial results of a vote within Russia on whether the four Russian-held regions of Ukraine should be annexed by Russia showed an overwhelming majority in favor.
It was a widely anticipated announcement after a five-day referendum that Kyiv and the West have condemned and said they would not recognize. Ukraine urged the EU to impose new sanctions in response to the vote, which it says was carried out in many cases at gunpoint.
Putin said on state TV that the vote was designed to protect people from Ukraine’s persecution of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, which Kyiv has denied.
“Saving people in all the regions where this referendum is taking place is at the top of our minds and the focus of our entire society and country,” Putin said.
This website uses cookies.