Putin Ally Issues Warning on Nuclear Weapons and ‘New Global War’

The leader of a Russia-led military alliance, Imangali Tasmagambetov, has warned that the world faces the “risk of a new global war” due to recent instability and the proliferation of nuclear weapons among major powers, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. State Department by submission form on Thursday morning for comment.

Why It Matters

World tensions have been rising since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in early 2022. The Kremlin leader has repeatedly leaned on the nation’s nuclear weapons as a thinly-veiled threat throughout the conflict, but officials have ramped up those warnings as the U.S. pursues an end to the conflict.

President Donald Trump said during his 2024 presidential campaign that he would bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end “in a day” after taking office, but nearly 100 days into his second administration, those efforts appear far from an endgame. Trump has even warned he may abandon his diplomatic efforts altogether if a deal doesn’t soon materialize.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday abruptly pulled out of discussions with Kyiv and European officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky heavily criticized reports that the U.S. would seek territorial concessions in order to achieve a peace deal.

What To Know

Tasmagambetov, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), this week spoke at a conference at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia in Moscow, where he raised concerns about a new worldwide conflict.

“The current transitional period carries the risk of a new global war being unleashed. We know that nuclear weapons and the near universal tendency towards military escalation make a third world war a real possibility,” Tasmagambetov said.

“This makes the analysis of conflict potentials in the modern world both timely and vital—not only for academic study but for international political practice.”

The CSTO is an organization comprised of former Soviet Union states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, first formed in 1992, but reformatted into the CSTO in 2002.

Tasmagambetov spoke of the alliance’s keen awareness of the security challenges in the current international security landscape. He said that it is “our sacred duty to fight for the preservation of our historical memory, to resist any attempts to distort the events of those years, to belittle the significance of the great feat of the Soviet people.”

“Amid today’s complex environment of profound geopolitical shifts, CSTO member states are jointly responding to many security challenges, strengthening military brotherhood and fine-tuning cooperation mechanisms to counter common threats,” Tasmagambetov said. “In this sense, the organization stands as a worthy heir to those traditions that helped the peoples of the USSR to achieve their Great Victory.”

The Soviet Union’s “Great Victory” refers to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, which Russia celebrates annually with its Victory Day holiday.

Putin has accused Ukraine of having Nazi elements and used that as part of his justification to invade the country. He has repeatedly declared the invasion a mission of “denazification” in Ukraine, invoking the memory of Victory Day to try to rally his nation behind his cause.

What People Are Saying

Russian Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu on Thursday told TASS: “…in the event of foreign states committing unfriendly actions that pose a threat to the sovereignty and territory integrity of the Russian Federation, our country considers it legitimate to take symmetric and asymmetric measures necessary to suppress such actions and prevent their recurrence.”

Vice President JD Vance told reporters in India on Wednesday: “We have engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy and on-the-ground work. We really tried to understand things from the perspectives of both Ukrainians and Russians. I think that we put together a very fair proposal.”

“It’s time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process. The current lines, somewhere close to them is where you’re ultimately, I think, going to draw the new lines in the conflict.”

What Happens Next

Trump and his advisers will continue to push for a deal between Ukraine and Russia, but patience is wearing thin on all sides as each fails to draw closer to a proper deal.