“Any attempt to encroach on Crimea is a declaration of war on our country.
And if a country that is a member of NATO does this, it is a conflict with the entire North Atlantic Alliance,” Medvedev said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.
According to him, such a scenario could lead to a third world war and a total catastrophe.
On May 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the air of the Italian channel Rai 1 that Ukraine does not recognize the Russian ownership of Crimea and the autonomy of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics.
Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum on the peninsula held in March 2014: the majority of residents voted for reunification with Russia.