Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the planet is on the verge of a nuclear world war, and Vladimir Putin is ready to be the first to press the atomic button.
Medvedev, who is Putin’s ally, chose an audience of Russian teenagers to threaten Armageddon – blaming the West for the cliff edge.
Medvedev, 57, told his young audience in Moscow that the threat of climate change was nothing to the possibility of nuclear war.
‘The world is sick and is on the edge of the Third World War,’ he said.
‘And although we tried to avoid war for 30 years, it was imposed on us.’
Medvedev is Putin’s deputy on Russia’s powerful security council, and a former Kremlin president and prime minister.
He told a questioner at a Knowledge educational marathon: ‘You said that Russia would never use nuclear weapons first – but it’s not exactly the case.’
The former president – who had his finger on the Kremlin’s nuclear button for four years between 2008 and 2012 – said: ‘There are truly a lot of things wrong with our world…
‘Let’s talk about the preservation of humans…
‘Enough of complaining about the temperature rising by 1 degree a year…
‘Our enemies understand only the use-of-force language and do not want to hear or understand anything else except it.’
Warning that Putin could strike first, he referred to Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
‘It makes it clear that nuclear weapons may be used if Russia faces an act of aggression involving other types of weapons, which threaten the very existence of the state,’ he said.
‘In fact, it is about using nuclear weapons in response to such actions.’
Medvedev warned: ‘Our potential adversaries should not underestimate this.’
