Russia could fire nonstrategic nukes at France and UK if they provide nuclear weapons to Ukraine, says Medvedev

(Washington Times) Russia could launch a nuclear strike on targets in France and the U.K. if those countries provide Ukraine with nukes, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.

According to the state-owned TASS news agency, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has determined that London and Paris have plans to provide Kyiv with nuclear firepower.

“This is a direct transfer of nuclear weapons to a country at war,” said Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council. “Russia would have to use all weapons, including nonstrategic nuclear ones, to strike targets in Ukraine that pose a threat to our country and, if necessary, in the supplying countries as well.”

Medvedev was once seen as a relatively liberal technocrat inside the Kremlin, but he has emerged as one of the most heated critics of the West since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago. He said targeting the U.K. and France, along with Ukraine, would be a “proportional response” to any decision to supply Kyiv with nuclear weapons.

Officials in Western Europe believe Ukraine’s negotiating position in talks with Russia would be strengthened if it had a wonder weapon, or nuke, TASS reported.

“France and the U.K. are actively working on a covert transfer of European-made components, equipment and technologies to Ukraine, including a French small-sized warhead from a submarine-launched ballistic missile,” TASS said.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/24/russia-could-launch-nukes-france-uk-give-ukraine-atomic-weapons-says/?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=subscriber&utm_campaign=threat_status&utm_term=threat_status&utm_content=threat_status&bt_ee=lj6nPMJpDt2MF5ysBClJ0d1XNJqI4BS9KiPN%2FNz5v3MV1PGFtP04iiEsEYtrTbiJ&bt_ts=1771951645043