Medvedev: UK waging an ‘undeclared war’ against Russia

The United Kingdom is waging an "undeclared war" against Russia, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Medvedev, currently serving as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, made the remarks in a Twitter post on Wednesday, a day after Britain condoned a large-scale drone attack on Moscow.

Medvedev argued that by providing Ukraine with weapons and training, the UK "de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia."

He also described the UK as Moscow’s "eternal enemy."

Based on international law, “including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols,” the UK "can also be qualified as being at war," Medvedev added.

His comments came just a day after British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Ukraine "has a right" to project force "beyond its own borders" as part of its self-defense, a few days after a series of drone strikes hit Moscow’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

According to Cleverly, eight combat drones were detected in Moscow’s airspace on Tuesday morning, in what Russian officials described as a "terrorist attack" by Kiev.

He claimed that Ukraine's aerial might that struck inside Russia would “undermine” what he called the Kremlin’s ability to continue its war in the ex-Soviet republic, which has officially denied responsibility for the drone attack.

Medvedev replied, saying that based on what the British foreign minister said, "legitimate military targets beyond Ukraine’s border are part of its self-defense."

Russia began its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24 last year with a declared aim of “demilitarizing” Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics. Back in 2014, the two republics, which are predominantly Russian-speaking, broke away from Ukraine, prompting Kiev to launch a bloody war against both regions. The years-long conflict has killed more than 14,000 people, mostly in the Donbas.

Since the onset of the February conflict between the two countries, the United States and its European allies, including the UK, have unleashed an array of unprecedented sanctions against Russia and poured numerous batches of advanced weapons into Ukraine to help its military fend off the Russian troops, despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war.

Russia can defend new regions with strategic nuclear weapons: Medvedev

Any Russian weapons, including strategic nuclear weapons could be “used for such protection,” Medvedev said.

Earlier in May, Britain also announced during a summit of European leaders in Reykjavik, Iceland, that it was working with the Netherlands to build a so-called international "jet coalition" to help Ukraine, which is in desperate need of upgrading its air force with advanced warplanes, obtain F-16 fighter jets from its mostly Western allies.

A number of countries have volunteered to host the training of Ukrainian pilots. Poland, a neighbor to Ukraine and one of its biggest supporters has said for months it is ready for the training.

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Foreign Minister Lavrov said he had “no doubt that our armed forces have the ability to react to this.”

Russia has repeatedly said that the collective Western nations are engaged in a proxy war with Russia over Ukraine, warning that the conflict could escalate into a much bigger fight.

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