The world is heading toward a global conflict if the United States is planning to defeat Russia, and Moscow will use all means necessary, including nuclear weapons, to defend itself, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

"It is obvious to all the powers that be that if the US wants to defeat Russia, we are heading for a conflict on a global scale. If the US wants to defeat Russia, we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including of the nuclear kind," Medvedev said on his Telegram channel.

Yesterday, in his state-of-the-nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

Commenting on Putin's announcement, Medvedev said that "this decision was long overdue," adding that he "pointed to it last year."

Read more: West wants to be done with Russia, seeks proxy war in Europe: Putin

The top Russian official stressed that Russia suspending its participation in START will impact the whole world, and Washington specifically.

"After all, the American establishment's reasoning so far has been the following: we will interfere in your affairs, we will supply copious amounts of weapons to the Kiev regime, we will work to defeat Russia, we will limit and destroy you, but strategic security is a separate topic. It's not related to the overall context of the US-Russia relationship. It is almost like a sacred cow," Medvedev said.

This state is "worse than a crime - it is the Americans’ grave mistake," he added, noting that it [mistake] is "born of their mania grandiose."

Quoting Putin stating that defeating Russia on the battlefield is impossible, Medvedev said that "this is exactly why we have suspended New START (for now)". 

"Let the US elites who have lost touch with reality think about what they have achieved. Let's also watch the reaction of other NATO nuclear powers: France and the UK. Their strategic nuclear forces were not usually included in the list of nuclear warheads and carriers when preparing agreements between the United States and the USSR (Russia), but it is high time to do so," Medvedev concluded.

It is noteworthy that Russia and the United States announced in February 2021 the entry into force of the decision to extend the START 3 Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms for a period of five years.

The Treaty kept the two countries' nuclear arsenals at a much lower level than during the Cold War, as it set the number of installed strategic nuclear launchers at 700 and the number of nuclear warheads at 1,550.

Russia has constantly reiterated that the threat of nuclear war was real and should not be underestimated but that it should be avoided at all costs.