Moscow has been “showing patience,” Medvedev said in a post on Telegram. “However, the pompous Anglo-Saxon imbeciles do not want to admit one thing: any patience comes to an end.”
At the same time, Medvedev said “a nuclear conflict is really not needed by anyone,” adding that: “It is obvious that a nuclear response is an extremely difficult decision with irreversible consequences.”
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden, at a meeting in Washington on Friday, deliberated over Ukraine’s possible use of British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Russian soil, without announcing any decision.
Ahead of that meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin late Thursday said giving Kyiv such permission would put NATO countries “at war with Russia.” Biden dismissed the threat, telling reporters: “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday renewed Kyiv’s pleas for expanded use of Western weapons. “We are making progress on the battlefield. But we need permission to use long-range weapons,” Zelenskyy said. “I hope that the U.S. political community understands this clearly and that the relevant decision will be made.”
Speaking after Friday’s meeting with Biden, Starmer said no final decision had been taken on the Storm Shadow missiles. He suggested that further developments may follow at the gathering of the U.N. General Assembly later this month.
Dan Bloom contributed reporting.