Russia Issues Nuclear Warning as Peace Talks Stall

Top Russian officials issued nuclear warnings against the West on Thursday as peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine hit a roadblock.

Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment by email.

Why It Matters

The timing of the threats come as President Donald Trump’s attempts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia face mounting challenges.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly pulled out of discussions with U.S., Ukrainian and European officials in London on Wednesday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly lambasted a central component of Trump’s reported ceasefire proposal, which involve territorial concessions.

Trump has warned that he may abandon his diplomatic efforts if no agreement is reached soon.

What To Know

Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons if it faces aggression from Western nations, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, told Kremlin newswire Tass.

Shoigu, who was replaced as defense minister last year after holding the position for 12 years, cited amendments made to Russia’s nuclear doctrine in November.

He said it allows Russia to “use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against it or the Republic of Belarus, including with the use of conventional weapons.”

“…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,” the official warned.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and prime minister, issued a separate nuclear warning, threatening a war should the International Criminal Court (ICC) execution arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin.

Putin was made a global outlaw in March 2023 when he was accused by the ICC of the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia during his full-scale invasion of the neighboring country.

He reiterated Russia’s position that the ICC warrant is illegal, and warned that the West “should understand the consequences of a conflict with a nuclear power,” Tass reported.

The ICC’s arrest warrant legally obliges the ICC’s 123 member states to carry out the arrest warrants on both Putin and Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.

All ICC states—including every member of the European Union, most African states, all Latin and South American states except Cuba and Nicaragua, and even Tajikistan—are legally required to arrest Putin if he ever steps foot on their territory.

Trump lashed out at Zelensky on Wednesday after the Ukrainian leader said he wouldn’t accept Russia’s demands to legally recognize the annexation of Crimea. The Black Sea peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014, but is internationally recognized as Ukrainian.

“Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea,” Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday. “It is against our constitution.”

What People Are Saying

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday, calling Zelensky’s remarks “very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia.”

“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire—He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” he wrote.

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

A meeting is being planned between Trump and Putin. Trump told reporters on Wednesday he may meeting with his Russian counterpart “shortly” after his trip to to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in May.