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Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev delivers a speech during a ceremony marking Shipbuilder’s Day in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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RUSSIA: Former Russian President and present Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said attempts by the West to punish a nuclear power such as Russia for the war in Ukraine risked endangering humanity, as the near five-month conflict leaves cities in ruins and thousands homeless.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the most serious crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
“The idea of punishing a country that has one of the largest nuclear potentials is absurd. And potentially poses a threat to the existence of humanity,” Medvedev said on Telegram yesterday.
Russia and the United States control about 90 per cent of the world’s nuclear warheads, with around 4,000 warheads each in their military stockpiles, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Medvedev cast the United States as an empire which had spilled blood across the world, citing the killing of Native Americans, US nuclear attacks on Japan and a host of wars ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan.
Attempts to use courts or tribunals to investigate Russia’s actions in Ukraine would, Medvedev said, be futile and risk global devastation. Ukraine and its Western allies say Russian forces have engaged in war crimes.
Russia’s Defence Ministry says it does not target civilians and on Wednesday said it was using high-precision weapons to take out military threats.
Ukraine has repeatedly pleaded with the West to send more weapons to repel the invasion that has killed thousands, displaced millions, and flattened cities. – THE MALAY MAIL
Friday, July 8, 2022 – 01:00
