Russia’s Medvedev says any NATO encroachment on Crimea could lead to World War Three

According to EURACTIV, any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a NATO member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to “World War Three,” Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday.

“For us, Crimea is a part of Russia. And that means forever. Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war against our country,” Medvedev told the news website Argumenty i Fakty.

“And if this is done by a NATO member-state, this means conflict with the entire North Atlantic alliance; a World War Three. A complete catastrophe.”

Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, also said that if Finland and Sweden joined NATO, Russia would strengthen its borders and would be “ready for retaliatory steps,” and that could include the prospect of installing Iskander hypersonic missiles “on their threshold.”

Putin has said that Russia would deliver Iskander-M missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Belarus in the coming months. He has also offered to upgrade Belarus’ warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyy said that he would consider the full restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine a victory, and the “minimum plan” – the return of the territories that Russia occupied after 24 February 2022.

In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, seen by Moscow as a coup d’état.

Russia formally incorporated Crimea on 18 March 2014 following a referendum conducted two days before. The referendum is not recognized by most countries in the world, mainly due to the presence of Russian forces. Thirteen members of the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a resolution declaring the referendum invalid, but Russia vetoed it and China abstained.