Putin’s Aide Warns U.S. Against Pressing for War Crimes Court

MOSCOW (AP) — A top Russian official warned the U.S. on Wednesday that it could face the “wrath of G-d” if it pursues efforts to help establish an international tribunal to investigate Russia’s action in Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, denounced the U.S. for what he described as its efforts to “spread chaos and destruction across the world for the sake of ‘true democracy.'”

“The entire U.S. history since the times of subjugation of the native Indian population represents a series of bloody wars,” Medvedev charged in a long diatribe on his social media channel, pointing out the U.S. nuclear bombing of Japan during World War II and the war in Vietnam. “Was anyone held responsible for those crimes? What tribunal condemned the sea of blood spilled by the U.S. there?”

Responding to the U.S.-backed calls for an international tribunal to prosecute the perceived war crimes by Russia in Ukraine, Medvedev rejected it as an attempt by the U.S. “to judge others while staying immune from any trial.”

“It won’t work with Russia, they know it well,” Medvedev concluded. “That’s why the rotten dogs of war are barking in such a disgusting way.”

The warning follows a series of tough statements from Putin and his officials that pointed at the Russian nuclear arsenals to warn the West against interfering with Moscow’s action in Ukraine.

Medvedev, who served as Russia’s President in 2008-2012 when Putin shifted into the Prime Minister’s post due to term limits, was widely seen by the West as more liberal compared with his mentor. In recent months, however, he has made statements that have sounded much tougher than those issued by the most hawkish Kremlin officials.