Russia repeats nuclear threat, demanding West halt arming of Ukraine

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated Monday his country's threat of nuclear war if the West's supply of arms to Ukraine continues.

The warning, published in an op-ed piece in the state-run newspaper Izvestiya, was the second time in three weeks the key aide to President Vladimir Putin has invoked the nuclear option in an effort to deter the U.S.-led NATO alliance from arming Ukraine.

Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012 and currently serves as the deputy chairman of the powerful Security Council of Russia, dangled the prospect of talks while demanding shipments of arms to Ukraine be halted immediately.

Echoing comments by Putin on Sunday, Medvedev wrote that any existential threat to Russia would not be decided on the front in Ukraine, but would spiral into an existential threat to human civilization, repeating the refrain "we don't need a world without Russia."

"Of course, the pumping in of weapons can continue and prevent any possibility of reviving negotiations," Medvedev said.

"Our enemies are doing just that, not wanting to understand that their goals obviously lead to a total fiasco. Everyone loses. A collapse. Apocalypse. When the former life will have to be forgotten for centuries, until the rubble ceases to emit radiation."

Last week, Putin ramped up nuclear tensions by announcing Russia was suspending its participation in the key 2010 New START treaty -- its last remaining arms control agreement with the United States -- which limits each side's arsenal of intercontinental nuclear weapons.

Russia has reserved the right to use nuclear weapons unilaterally in the face of "aggression" even if its opponents only employ conventional arms.

At the start of the month, Medvedev said any attempt to retake Crimea would result in the "flaming" of all of Ukraine with all the forces at Russia's disposal, including nuclear weapons "in accordance with our doctrinal documents, including the Fundamentals of Nuclear Deterrence."

"All Ukraine that remains under the rule of Kyiv will burn," Medvedev said.

According to clause 19 of the fundamentals, Russia may use nuclear weapons "in the event of aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened."

Earlier Monday, a Russian surveillance plane was damaged in a drone attack in neighboring Belarus mounted by a dissident group opposing the pro-Russian government of Alexander Lukashenko.

Aliksandr Azarov, leader of the anti-government group BYPOL, claimed responsibility on social media for the attack.

The Beriev A-50 early warning aircraft was hit by multiple blasts near the Machulishchy airbase near the capital Minsk.

"These were drones. The participants of the operation are Belarusian," Azarov said.

The attack comes as Lukashenko prepares to travel to Beijing on Tuesday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping for a three-day state visit.