A key ally to Vladimir Putin has warned the West that it risks a “global catastrophe” if it continues to supply weapons to Ukraine that could threaten Russian territories.
His comments come in the wake of Germany’s refusal to equip Kyiv’s army with Leopard tanks.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s parliament, said such actions could unleash a nuclear war.
In a post to his Telegram channel, he wrote: “If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons.
“Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable.”
He added that this was because the US and NATO “did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country”.
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