The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has condemned the statement by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, as “irresponsible rhetoric.” Medvedev had accused NATO and officials from countries allied with Ukraine in its war against Russian occupying forces of being directly involved in the conflict, and stated that this makes them “legitimate military targets.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said, “The United States and NATO are not seeking conflict with Russia.”
“NATO is a defensive alliance, but any military action against a NATO ally will trigger a robust response,” the spokesperson added.
The comments came in reaction to an editorial in The Times newspaper, which referred to the killing of a senior Russian general on December 17 as a “legitimate act of self-defense by a threatened nation.” In his response, Medvedev argued that Moscow should adopt the same logic regarding its stance.
In the editorial, The Times described the general’s killing as “an attack on an aggressor,” emphasizing the need for Western governments to provide Ukraine with “all the support it needs to conduct a just war of self-defense.”
Medvedev wrote, “All officials from NATO countries involved in decisions regarding military aid to Ukraine, as well as those participating in hybrid or conventional warfare against Russia, are now considered legitimate military targets by the Russian state and all Russian patriots.”
European Union foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, stated that there should be no fear of Medvedev’s threats.
“I think the only response we should have to this is not to be afraid,” Kallas said in Brussels, speaking before an EU leaders’ meeting to discuss the ongoing war.
The State Department spokesperson emphasized that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is “the greatest and most immediate threat” to the security of Europe and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region.
“It is the Kremlin that started this war, and Putin can end it today,” the spokesperson added.
In response to Medvedev’s comments, NATO’s press office stated via email: “We will respond if we have something to say.”
On December 17, General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces, and his deputy were killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter near the entrance of a building in Moscow during the early hours. Kirillov was one of several Russian officers and pro-war figures killed in Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
A week earlier, a senior official from a Russian company that develops cruise missiles used by Moscow in the war was shot dead near the Russian capital.
Medvedev’s rhetoric reflects the longstanding Kremlin narrative blaming “Western forces” for anti-Russian actions worldwide, as well as for sabotage and “terrorism” in Russia itself.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated on December 17 that the United States had no involvement in Kirillov’s killing and had no prior knowledge of the event.
Russian investigators classified the murder as a “terrorist attack” and immediately attributed it to Ukrainian intelligence.
On December 18, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of a 29-year-old Uzbek national, who was not named, in connection with the case.
Medvedev also threatened retaliation against The Times journalists, warning ominously that the newspaper could be included on the list of “legitimate military targets,” adding, “A lot happens in London… be careful.”
This warning appears to be a veiled reference to the 2006 radiation poisoning of former FSB officer and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London, as well as the 2018 nerve agent poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
