Saber-rattling continues as Lindsey Graham warns about using nuclear weapons

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham warned Russia that a nuclear attack on Ukraine would be seen as an attack on NATO in the latest round of saber-rattling over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. But what did the senator say and who was his warning directed at in Moscow?

Graham delivered his warning in response to an article by the former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who wrote that the Kremlin would need to use nuclear weapons if Russian territory was threatened. 

“Imagine if the offensive, which is backed by NATO, was a success and they tore off part of our land, then we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon, according to the rules of a decree from the president of Russia,” Medvedev wrote, Reuters reported. 

"There would simply be no other option. So our enemies should pray for our warriors’ [success]. They are making sure that a global nuclear fire is not ignited," Medvedev added. 

The former president casts himself as one of the most hawkish voices in the Russian government according to Reuters, and he’s spent much of the year-and-a-half-long conflict making veiled references to what Russia might do with its nuclear weapons. 

Medvedev’s most recent comments appeared to be threatening the possibility of a nuclear attack if Ukraine continues to make progress with its counter-offensive and begins taking land Moscow now considers Russian territory. 

Graham didn’t take too kindly to Medvedev’s threats and voiced his frustrations with the Russian leader on Twitter, telling him it was “time to sober up” and realize the “barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not working” and suggested that Russia withdraw to save lives. 

“To my Russian friends who talk about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: You need to understand that would be an attack on NATO itself, given Ukraine’s proximity to NATO territory,” Graham wrote before his comments asking for Medvedev to sober up. 

Graham had previously introduced a resolution to address the use of a Russian tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine with Senator Richard Blumenthal aimed at clarifying the U.S. position on Moscow’s potential plans to employ nuclear weapons in Ukraine. 

The resolution called for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, or the destruction of a nuclear facility that dispersed radioactive material onto NATO territory, an attack on the group itself, and grounds to invoke the alliance's Article 5 defensive protections clause. 

“Senator Blumenthal and I want to put everyone on notice that the threat of the use of a nuclear device by Russia is real. The best way to deter this threat is to give Putin’s Russia clarity as to what happens if they use nuclear weapons,” Graham said. 

“Our message is to those around Putin. If you do this and follow his order, should he give it, you can expect a massive response from NATO. You will be at war with NATO.” the senator from South Carolina continued. 

The official position of the United States on a Russian nuclear attack in Ukraine is not clear but President Joe Biden has explained any nuclear attack would be “completely unacceptable” and “entail severe consequences” according to The Atlantic. 

However, things are still heating up and Graham’s response to Medvedev came on the same day the American Ambassador to the United Nations said an attack by Wager Group forces would be considered an attack against the United States by Russia itself. 

“We certainly worry that this group, at the behest of the Russian Government—because they do not work independently of the Russian Government—is a threat to all of us,” said Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield virtually at the New York Foreign Press Center. 

“And we have to ensure that the message is clear that any attacks by the Wagner Group will be seen as an attack by the Russian Government,” Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, a worrying message as the war continues to be waged in Ukraine.