Russia's Nuclear Arsenal Holds 'Hothead' Countries in Check: Medvedev

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia's arsenal of nuclear weapons is effectively keeping "hothead" countries in check.

Medvedev, now serving as deputy chairman of the Russian Federation's Security Council, told Russian news agency Interfax on Tuesday that the nuclear arsenal was the only force preventing the country from being "torn to pieces" amid the war in Ukraine. He said the weapons had the power to prevent "non-friendly" countries from adopting "anti-Russian" positions.

"If it were not for the strategic nuclear arsenal, we would be torn to pieces," Medvedev said. "[Russia is] a huge country, rich, and everyone is looking and thinking how to take something away or divide it into parts, and then quietly appropriate it all."

"No matter how hard it sounds, to a large extent [the nuclear arsenal] keeps the most hotheads, especially in alliances that are unfriendly to us, from making anti-Russian decisions," he continued. "It was, it is, and it will be so."

Medvedev stressed that Russia stands "for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and for the implementation of known agreements," while arguing that the nuclear threat would help "ensure the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and well-being of our entire country."

Concerns over the possibility that Russia could choose to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine have been raised during the course of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 21 that the country would use "all available means" to defend occupied territory in Ukraine, adding that the threat was "not a bluff."

Medvedev said Russia had "the right to use nuclear weapons if necessary" in a Telegram post the following week.

Oleksiy Hromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this month that nuclear-capable Russian bombers were spotted on practice flights near the Ukrainian border.

Experts, however, have largely agreed that the chances of Russia actually using a nuclear weapon are low. Leaked emails from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) also suggest that Putin could be too "scared" to risk a nuclear world war by using the weapons.

The prospects of extending a U.S.-Russia agreement on reducing nuclear weapons, which will expire in 2025, remain in doubt as the war continues.

Russian and U.S. officials had been set to meet to discuss the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) over the past week in Egypt. The Department of State said Russia "unilaterally postponed" the summit, according to Fox News.

Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon and the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for comment.