Calling a New World War Right Before Eyes, Former President of Russia: We Need to Make Sure It Doesn't Happen

JAKARTA - An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, the world may be on the verge of a new world war and the risk of nuclear confrontation is increasing, so it is necessary to implement measures to prevent it.

"The world is sick and very possibly on the verge of a new world war," Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council told a conference in Moscow, reported by Reuters, April 26.

He said such a new world war was inevitable, but the risk of a nuclear confrontation was increasing and more serious than concerns about climate change.

For this reason, the former President of Russia called on all countries to exert efforts to avoid the outbreak of a new full-scale global conflict.

"I can't say what the final blow was, what was the trigger. But it may happen at some point. We all need to work to ensure that this hot threat of global confrontation, full-scale World War III doesn't materialize," he said.

Talking about the current situation, Medvedev noted that Russia absolutely does not want this to happen.

"But world tensions are very hot indeed," he said.

Medvedev further recalls that, in his youth, he and his peers "used to talk about the confrontation with the United States, about the confrontation between the Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Alliance."

"Back then it seemed like some kind of hypothetical scenario, far-fetched and impossible. But I can't say now, however sad this is," he concluded.

President Putin said in October last year that the world was facing the most dangerous decade since the Second World War. He called the war in Ukraine an existential battle with an aggressive and arrogant West, saying Russia would use all available means to protect itself from any aggressor.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an imperial-style land grab. Meanwhile, Ukraine has vowed to fight until all Russian troops withdraw from its territory, saying Russia's rhetoric about a nuclear war was meant to intimidate the West into limiting military aid.