(ANSA-AFP).
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(ANSA-AFP) - MOSCOW, MAR 23 - Russia's ex-president Dmitry
Medvedev, has warned that attempts to arrest Vladimir Putin
abroad after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a
warrant against him would be seen by Moscow as a "declaration of
war". Medvedev, who served as president between 2008 and 2012,
has made increasingly hawkish speeches since Putin sent troops
to Ukraine, repeatedly issuing nuclear threats. Late on
Wednesday, he said Russian weapons would hit a country if it
arrested Putin. The ICC, based in The Hague, last week announced
an arrest warrant for the Russian leader, accused of deporting
Ukrainian children. "Let's imagine -- it's clear that this is a
situation that will never happen -- but nevertheless let's
imagine it does," the Putin ally said. "The current head of a
nuclear state arrives on the territory of, say, Germany, and is
arrested. What is this? A declaration of war against the Russian
Federation." Medvedev said that if this happened "all of our
means, rockets and others, will fly on the Bundestag, in the
Chancellor's Office and so on." Medvedev -- who is deputy
chairman of Russia's security council -- said the ICC's decision
will make dire relations with the West plunge further.
(ANSA-AFP).
(ANSA-AFP).
