The former president of Russia and a key Vladimir Putin ally threatened Germany with nuclear conflict after the German Justice Minister said the Russian leader would be arrested on the International Criminal Court's warrant if he visited the country.
What Happened: Dmitry Medvedev told the media that the arrest of Putin would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany, reported Associated Press.
“No, it hasn’t decreased, it has grown,” Medvedev said in response to a question if the threat of a nuclear conflict had eased.
See Also: Putin Says Americans ‘Continue To Occupy’ Germany As Nord Stream Blasts Remain Unsolved
“Every day, when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons, brings the nuclear apocalypse closer,” he said.
The deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council also slammed the U.S. and its NATO allies in a barrage of similarly strongly worded statements for what he dubbed as their efforts to break up and destroy Moscow.
“Our relations with the West are already worse than they have ever been in history,” he added.
“Let’s imagine…the leader of a nuclear power visits the territory of Germany and is arrested. In this case, our assets will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s office, and so on,” Medvedev said.
The Kremlin has called the ICC arrest warrant an outrageously partisan decision and said it was meaningless with respect to Russia. Medvedev also likened the arrest warrant to a toilet paper roll.
"The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used," Medvedev tweeted, adding a toilet paper emoji next to it.
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