Putin ally issues “world war” threat to NATO member

A Vladimir Putin ally has warned America and Poland that using weapons against Russian targets could result in a world war.

There have been rising tensions between Russia and NATO member Poland since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier this month, Andrzej Szejna, Poland’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, said that his country could be left exposed to Russian attacks after Warsaw said it could host NATO nuclear weapons on its territory.

Earlier this week, it was reported by Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform that Poland was weighing the decision of downing Russian missiles. Warsaw has said Russian missiles fired at western Ukraine have entered its airspace numerous times, but Moscow has said this was accidental.

Putin has said that Moscow has “no interest” in fighting with members of NATO.

On Saturday, Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, told The Guardian that the U.S. has told Russia that if it uses nuclear weapons there will be an American response

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded to this interview and said that if Americans destroyed Moscow positions in Ukraine, it would start a “world war.”

Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and a close Putin ally wrote: “The Polish counterpart of a weird, outlandish creature called [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, with a much more sonorous surname Sikorski, apparently, has decided to scare his own masters. He has stated: ‘The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn’t kill anybody, we will hit all your targets [positions] in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we’ll destroy all of them.'”

He said that he doubted the U.S. had made that commitment and said that if they did, it could lead to war.

“First, the Yankees so far haven’t said anything exactly like that because they are more cautious than the Polacks,” he continued. “Second, Americans hitting our targets means starting a world war, and a foreign minister, even of a country like Poland, should understand that. And third, considering that yet another Polack, [President Andrzej] Duda, has recently announced the wish to deploy TNW [thermonuclear weapons] in Poland, Warsaw won’t be left out, and will surely get its share of radioactive ash. Is it what you really want?

“The Polish are resentful; have been like that for over 400 years…”

Newsweek contacted Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the NATO press office by email outside of business hours to comment on this story.