Medvedev: NATO-Russia War Would Bring ‘Apocalypse’

If the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were to get involved in a full-scale war with Russia, it would result in a “proverbial Apocalypse,” according to one of Russia’s former presidents.

This week, Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chairman of the Security Council in Russia, posted on the social media site Telegram that his country isn’t pursuing a war with any NATO country. He also pushed back on statements made by multiple Western leaders that urged countries to be prepared for a direct conflict with Russia.

Medvedev also wrote that Western leaders are creating a narrative of necessary war preparation as a way to distract their voters away from the huge amount of money they’re sending to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Western leaders are ignoring their country’s social problems and instead helping “a dying country that is foreign to taxpayers,” he wrote.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and therefore, member countries aren’t required by a commitment to the organization to directly defend it. That being said, Ukraine is on the doorstep of multiple NATO countries, most notably Poland but also Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic.

Earlier this year, Poland activated fighter jets in an attempt to protect its airspace while Russia increased its missile attacks in western Ukraine — which shares a border with Poland.

Medvedev wrote that if a full-scale war between NATO and Russia were to break out, it would look a lot different than the war between Russia and Ukraine. Instead of using drones, tanks, and artillery, Russia would “have no choice” but to activate its nuclear capabilities.

“Since our military capabilities are incomparable, we will simply have no choice. The response will be asymmetrical,” he wrote. “To protect the territorial integrity of our country, ballistic and cruise missiles with special warheads will be used. … This will be the proverbial Apocalypse. The end of everything.”

In total, NATO countries spend about $1.5 trillion to defend their nearly 1 billion people — capabilities that are far superior to those of Russia.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December that Moscow “has no interest” in a war with NATO, the organization has posed “an existential threat” to them with expansion further toward its borders, he added.

When Finland became the 31st NATO member in April 2023, it effectively doubled the physical land border the treaty organization shares with Russia.