Think The West Doesn't Punish A State Of Large Nuclear Power, Former President Of Russia: Gives Threats To Humans

JAKARTA - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Western efforts to punish nuclear powers such as Russia over the war in Ukraine are at risk of endangering humanity, as a conflict of nearly five months has left cities destroyed and thousands homeless.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 sparked the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.

US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was a war criminal, leading the West in arming Ukraine and imposing crippling sanctions on Russia.

"The idea of punishing a country that has one of the biggest nuclear potentials is absurd. And has the potential to pose a threat to the existence of mankind," said Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council on Telegram.

Russia and the United States control about 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads, with about 4,000 warheads each in their military supplies, according to the American Federation of Scientists.

Medvedev called the United States a kingdom that has spilled blood all over the world, citing the killing of indigenous Americans, US nuclear attacks in Japan, and a number of wars ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

Efforts to use courts or stands to investigate Russian actions in Ukraine, Medvedev said, would be in vain and risk causing global collapse. Ukraine and its Western allies say Russian forces have engaged in war crimes.

President Putin launched his invasion, calling it a "special military operation", to demilitaryize Ukraine, eradicating what he said was a dangerous nationalist and protecting Russian-speaking speakers in the country.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and its allies say Russia is launching an imperial-style land grabbing, sparking Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War.

After failing to capture the capital Kyiv earlier, Russia is now launching a war to seize the Ukrainian Donbas region, some of which is controlled by Russian separatist proxies.

On Sunday, President Putin claimed his biggest win when Ukrainian troops withdrew from Lugansk Province. Russian troops then launched an attack to seize the neighboring Donetsk province. Donetsk and Lugansk consist of Donbas.

Russia said it wanted to seize control of eastern territory and heavily industrial areas on behalf of Moscow-backed separatists in the two self-proclaimed people's republics.