Putin ‘certainly not bluffing’ and will use nuclear weapons if pushed, says Medvedev

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Russia has the right to defend itself if pushed and the threat of nuclear weapons is “is certainly not a bluff”, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Vladimir Putin warned last week that he would use “all the means at our disposal” to protect Russia. “It’s not a bluff,” he said, that Russia would use its weapons of mass destruction if its territory was threatened.

Now serving as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Mr Medvedev added that the US-led military alliance Nato would stay out of the conflict for fear of a “nuclear apocalypse”.