ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, May 17 (UPI) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday military intervention in the affairs of sovereign states could lead to war, even nuclear war.
The Russian prime minister alluded to the situations in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, telling a legal forum in St. Petersburg the right of nations to choose their own path of development is a universal value, RIA Novosti reported.
“The introduction of all sorts of collective sanctions bypassing international institutions does not improve the situation in the world while reckless military operations in foreign states usually end up with radicals coming to power,” Medvedev said.
“At some point such actions, which undermine state sovereignty, may well end in a full-blown regional war” and “even the use of nuclear
weapons,” he warned.
Read more:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/05/17/Medvedev-warns-of-war/UPI-54581337262591/#ixzz1vFP1qThf
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-action-syria-iran-may-nuclear-193513085–business.html
Meanwhile, questions and rumors continue regarding the composition of the new Russian government, leaving the international community ripe with speculation over what direction Russia will take under its new cabinet, with concerns that Russia is returning to a hard-line militaristic posture in international relations.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120518/173533502.html
In response to repeater inquiries, Russia’s outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday said his job swap with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will assure a continuity of power that “lasts a long time” despite anger on the street.
In other news, A Russian defense company worker was convicted Friday of passing missile secrets to foreign intelligence in the latest espionage case amid a cold spell in Moscow’s relations with Washington. The Sverdlov Regional Court in the city of Yekaterinburg handed an eight-year prison sentence to Alexander Gniteyev, a worker at a defense company dealing with automatic systems. Court spokesman Yelena Maryina said Gniteyev also has been ordered to pay a 100,000 ruble ($3,200) fine.
And as we know, newly elected President Putin will not attend the G-8 Summit at Camp David this weekend. Which begs the question – do the Russians know something we don’t about the potential for Syria and/or Iran to use long-range ballistic missiles should a war break out in the middle east?
