Any encroachment on the Crimea peninsula by a Nato member-state could amount to a declaration of war on Russia which could lead to 鈥淲orld War Three,鈥 Russia鈥檚 former president, Dmitry Medvedev, was quoted as saying on Monday.
鈥淔or 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,鈥 Medvedev told the news website Argumenty i Fakty.
鈥淎nd 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.鈥
Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia鈥檚 Security Council, also said that if Finland and Sweden joined Nato, Russia would strengthen its borders and would be 鈥渞eady for retaliatory steps,鈥 and that could include the prospect of installing Iskander hypersonic missiles 鈥渙n their threshold.鈥
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