Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, issued a warning on Friday about a nuclear response, saying “time is running out.”

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, tensions between NATO countries and the Kremlin have continued, with NATO leaders increasingly warning that direct conflict with Moscow is a realistic possibility . It comes after Putin and senior Russian officials repeatedly threatened nuclear escalation in the war against kyiv and its Western partners.

In a post on Telegram on Friday, Medvedev, vice chairman of the Russian Security Council and former Russian president, suggested that Ukraine was trying to “create a dirty bomb,” adding that it “has all the resources to do so “.

“In view of the seemingly meaningless discussions around the creation of nuclear weapons by… Ukraine, we can only draw one sad conclusion: the Nazi regime is trying to create a ‘dirty bomb.'” He says of all the resources for this: raw materials, technology, specialists. And any Soviet-era laboratory will do for making a low-power charge,” Medvedev said.

The Kremlin has repeatedly attempted to justify its 2022 invasion of Ukraine by claiming that a “neo-Nazi regime” is ruling the country, which has been categorically rejected by Ukraine and the international community.

Medvedev’s remarks come amid reports that restrictions on kyiv’s use of Western weapons will soon be lifted. Ukraine has been pushing for the US and UK to drop their ban on targeting Russian territory with US ATACMS missiles and UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Some fear that such use could escalate the conflict.

News week contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries by email for comment.

kyiv says it needs long-range weapons to target air bases used by Russian warplanes that launch glide bombs against Ukraine, often from deep within Russian territory. The Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of about 150 miles, have only been used against Russian targets in occupied Ukrainian territory.

This is not the first time Medvedev has warned against a nuclear response during war. He had previously made headlines on social media, ranging from calls for nuclear strikes against NATO members to suggestions that Moscow had no choice but to eliminate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky .

In a post on Telegram last month, Medvedev spoke of a nuclear response, writing: “Still, Russia has been patient. It is obvious that a nuclear response is an extremely complex decision with irreversible consequences. however, the thing is that you can only test someone’s patience for so long.

In late September, Putin announced that his country would reassess its deterrence policy and warned that provocations by Ukraine and its allies could cross Moscow’s red line on the use of nuclear weapons.

These updated guidelines, the Russian leader said, would consider “aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, as their joint attack against the Russian Federation.”

In the meantime, responding to a previous request for News weekThe US State Department has dismissed the seriousness of Medvedev’s various statements.

“We now know that Medvedev should not be taken seriously,” wrote a department spokesperson. “This is standard Kremlin nonsense.”