Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow has no desire for a global war, while cautioning that mounting tensions and eroding arms control safeguards have sharply increased the danger.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia is not interested in a global conflict but warned that the risk of such a war remains high and cannot be ruled out, according to comments published Feb. 2.
“Of course, we are not interested in a global conflict. We are not crazy! Who needs a global conflict?” Medvedev said in an interview with Russian state news agency TASS. Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, added that Moscow was also not interested in initiating what the Kremlin refers to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Medvedev said Russia repeatedly urged Western governments and NATO to negotiate and consider Moscow’s security concerns, including setting limits on NATO expansion and abandoning plans to bring Ukraine into the alliance. He said those warnings were rejected despite what he described as an existing territorial dispute over Crimea.
“But they were just as adamant, saying ‘no, we will do anything we want and let anybody who wants join [the bloc],’” Medvedev said. “And here they go, causing a serious global problem!”
The term “special military operation” is used by the Kremlin to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine, which Kyiv and its allies characterize as a full-scale invasion.
Despite noting what he described as renewed contact between Moscow and Washington—something he said made him “rejoice”—Medvedev said the danger of a global conflict has not diminished.
“A global conflict cannot be ruled out, and I think that the risks are very high and they have not decreased,” he said.
Medvedev argued that what he called a declining “pain threshold” among global powers has increased the likelihood of escalation. He contrasted the current situation with earlier Cold War-era attitudes, when leaders in the Soviet Union, the United States, NATO, and the Warsaw Pact publicly emphasized that nuclear confrontation must never occur, regardless of political ideology.
According to Medvedev, Russia warned during the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden that escalating actions could spiral out of control.
“One thing would lead to another. One blow—a response. Another blow—a response. And then all this would continue, with the response being global and absolutely destructive for everyone,” he said.
He described Western unwillingness to take Russia’s concerns seriously as “a major global problem,” reiterating that the danger of a world war remains elevated.
Medvedev also addressed the pending expiration of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as New START, which is set to lapse Feb. 5. He said the treaty’s expiration does not automatically mean catastrophe but should serve as a serious warning.
“I don’t want to say that this immediately means a catastrophe and a nuclear war, but it should still alert everyone,” Medvedev said. “The clock that is ticking will, in this case, undoubtedly accelerate again.”
If the treaty expires without replacement, the United States and Russia would, for the first time in decades, have no legally binding limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons. Medvedev said that while tracking warheads and delivery systems is useful, it does not resolve broader strategic issues, though he described the treaty as a symbol of trust.
“When such a treaty exists, there is trust. When it doesn’t, that trust is exhausted,” he said. “The fact that we are now in this situation is clear evidence of a crisis in international relations.”
The United States and Russia together possess nearly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. Russia has about 5,459 nuclear warheads, while the United States has approximately 5,177, according to estimates from the Federation of American Scientists, figures that include both active warheads and retired weapons awaiting dismantlement.
On Jan. 15, Russia said it was still awaiting a response from Washington on whether the treaty could be extended or replaced. U.S. President Donald Trump, who previously described extending the agreement as a “good idea,” said in a January interview that “if it expires, it expires,” adding, “We’ll do a better agreement.”
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