MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Moscow should consider launching “preemptive strikes” against the West as the U.S. and its NATO Patriot missile systems are being delivered to Ukraine.
“The statements of Western politicians on this topic are complete nonsense,” Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s security council, said in an interview with state media outlet Tass, according to Reuters reporting.
“We need to act accordingly. To respond in full. And if necessary, launch preemptive strikes,” he added.
Medvedev’s comments come just two days after President Donald Trump announced secondary tariffs on Moscow by slapping 100% tariffs on nations that purchase Russian oil if the Kremlin does not enter into a peace agreement with Ukraine within the next 50 days.
Reports also surfaced this week claiming that Trump had mulled the possibility of Ukraine hitting the Russian capital while in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month. 
Trump this week said the U.S. would be sending Patriot missiles to NATO nations that would then be routed to Ukraine, and on Wednesday he suggested the sophisticated weaponry was already en route to Germany.
“They’re already being shipped,” Trump told reporters from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “They’re coming in from Germany and then replaced by Germany. And in all cases, the United States gets paid back in full.”
“I cannot confirm that anything is currently on the way. That is not known to me,” the spokesman reportedly told Swiss broadcasting outlet SRF, before noting that a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) will be held on Monday, when delivery specifications of U.S. Patriot systems will be hashed out.
But the quick delivery of the U.S. missile systems appears to be a top priority for Washington and NATO as Switzerland, which is not a NATO nation, also announced on Thursday that its anticipated receipt of five Patriot batteries, purchased from the U.S. in 2022 with a pledged delivery date to begin in 2026, had been delayed.
Medvedev on Thursday said the action by NATO amounted to a full-blown war against Russia by the West.
European Union agreed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia, including measures aimed at dealing further blows to the Russian oil and energy industry.
Medvedev said that the Russian economy would withstand the European Union’s latest sanctions package and said Moscow would intensify its strikes against Ukraine.