JAKARTA - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that further damage to weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine, the higher the risk of a nuclear apocalypse.
Russia, which has more nuclear weapons than any other country, has repeatedly said the West is involved in a proxy war with Russia over Ukraine that could escalate to a much larger conflict.
The United States has become the West with the largest amount of aid so far, about $37 billion to Ukraine, since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February last year.
In front of G7 country leaders at the Hiroshima summit last Friday, President Joe Biden said he was supporting joint efforts with allies to train Ukrainian pilots to use F-16 fighter jets, according to a senior US administration official, although there has been no commitment to supply the jets themselves.
"The more weapons supplied, the more dangerous the world is," Medvedev, who now serves as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, told Russian government news agencies on a trip to Vietnam and Laos.
"And, the more destructive these weapons are, the greater the possibility of a scenario commonly called a nuclear apocalypse," Medvedev said.
The West said it wanted to help Ukraine defeat Russia, but repeatedly insisted they did not want to spark a direct confrontation between the US-backed NATO military alliance and Russia.
However, Medvedev said NATO did not appear to take the possibility of a nuclear conflict seriously.
"They are wrong. And at some point, events can move in completely unexpected scenarios. And the responsibility will be entirely in the hands of the North Atlantic Alliance," Medvedev said, as quoted by RIA.
Separately, the Russian military said Tuesday it had expelled militants who had penetrated the Belgorod region of Ukraine, killing more than 70 "Ukraine nationalists".
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In that regard, Medvedev said the attackers were "chaotic" to be eradicated "like rats".
"The responsibility... is borne by the Kyiv regime, and ultimately by its overseas sponsors - namely Washington and EU countries - along with countries affiliated with them such as the UK and others," Medvedev said according to TASS.
"This is their responsibility, immediately and immediately," he said.
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