An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Nato on Thursday that a defeat of Russia in Ukraine could trigger a nuclear war. “The defeat of a nuclear power in a conventional war may trigger a nuclear war,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putin’s powerful security council, said in a post on Telegram.
“Nuclear powers have never lost major conflicts on which their fate depends,” said Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian presidential aide said on Thursday it was time for the West to stop fearing Russian President Vladimir Putin and send much-needed modern tanks to his war-torn country.
“Time to stop trembling at Putin and take the final step,” presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.
Britain on Thursday said it would send 600 Brimstone missiles to war-torn Ukraine to help its fight against Russian forces while Denmark said it will donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzer artillery systems to Ukraine.
After visiting the war-torn country, EU chief Charles Michel on Thursday said that tanks “must be delivered” to Ukraine.
“I firmly believe that tanks must be delivered,” Michel tweeted after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “We want to support you because we are aware that the next few weeks may be decisive for what comes next.”
{{/usCountry}}“I firmly believe that tanks must be delivered,” Michel tweeted after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “We want to support you because we are aware that the next few weeks may be decisive for what comes next.”
{{/usCountry}}Also, Ukrainian authorities on Thursday were investigating the circumstances surrounding a helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others on Wednesday.