Dec 25 (Reuters) - Russia's nuclear arsenal and the rules Moscow has laid out for its use are the only factors preventing the West from starting a war against Russia, a top ally of President Vladimir Putin said in an article published on Sunday.
In an interview aired separately on Sunday, Putin said Russia is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war, but said that Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to engage in talks.
Medvedev, who once cast himself as a liberal moderniser as president from 2008 to 2012, is one of the most hawkish proponents of the war.
He regularly denounces the West, which he accuses of wanting to break Russia apart to benefit Ukraine.
"Is the West ready to unleash a fully-fledged war against us, including a nuclear war, at the hands of Kyiv?"
Putin and other senior officials have repeatedly said Russia's policy on nuclear weapons dictates they can be used if there is a threat to territorial integrity.
Earlier this month, Putin said the risk of a nuclear war was rising, but insisted Russia had not "gone mad" and that it saw its own nuclear arsenal as a purely defensive deterrent. »
