An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned about possibly striking NATO military bases, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Security Council deputy chairman, made the comment in response to the Western authorization of Ukraine's use of long-range weapons.
Answering a question about whether Russia could strike military bases in Romania and Poland if long-range weapons are continually used against Moscow, he said: "If the conflict develops by the escalation scenario, it is impossible to rule out anything, because the NATO member states have effectively got fully involved in this conflict," Tass reported, citing an interview with Al Arabiya.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian defense ministry via email and NATO through a form on its website for further comment.
Medvedev reportedly continued: "Meanwhile, they fight not only by shipping weapons and providing money. They fight directly, because they provide targets on Russian territory and control American and European missiles. They fight with the Russian Federation. And if this is the case, nothing could be ruled out."
He went on to say that this scenario, albeit sad, is "entirely possible."
"We would not want such scenario, we have all said that repeatedly," he said. "We want peace, but this peace must take Russia's interest into consideration in full."
This is not the first time Medvedev has made statements about potential further aggression from Russia in retaliation to the West's support of Ukraine, as he also took to Telegram to warn the U.S. against transferring nuclear weapons to Ukraine.
The White House previously told Newsweek that it has no plans to equip Ukraine with nuclear weapons.
In a Telegram post, Medvedev said: "The very threat of transferring nuclear weapons to the Kyiv regime can be considered preparation for nuclear conflict with Russia; The actual transfer of such weapons can be equated to an act of attack on our country under article 19 of the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence. The consequences are obvious."
Medvedev was previously Russia's president and prime minister, and he also recently said that the war with Ukraine is "already WWIII."
President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use long-range weapons to conduct deep strikes into Russian territory last week, and since then, Ukraine has used U.S.-made ATACMS missiles and Anglo-Franco Storm Shadow missiles in attacks on Russia, further escalating the tension between the warring countries.
Russia has recently updated its nuclear doctrine and in response to Ukraine's attacks, launched a new hypersonic ballistic missile at Dnipro.
Three experts previously told Newsweek that the chances of Russia firing nuclear weapons in Ukraine are low, and that it is likely an intimidation tactic. However, one expert, Joseph Rodgers, the deputy director and a fellow with the Project on Nuclear Issues in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), noted that Putin's update to the nuclear doctrine is a "big shift in policy."
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