“Putin uses Medvedev as a tool to express statements related to nuclear weapons, he doesn’t want to discredit his own good peacekeeper’s name,” Lieutenant-General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said ironically.

Russian former President Dmitry Medvedev blamed NATO countries on Monday for the abandonment of a moratorium on short- and medium-range nuclear missiles and said Moscow would take further steps in response.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that actions by the U.S. and its allies create “destabilizing missile potentials” near Russia.

Russia said on Tuesday that it would no longer place any limits on where it deploys intermediate-range missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after Russia said it was lifting what it called a unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate-range missiles,

The coming week could be pivotal in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected in Moscow midweek.

The coming week could mark a pivotal moment in the war between Russia and Ukraine So far Trump’s promises, threats and cajoling have failed to shift the Kremlin's position, and the stubborn diplomatic stalemate remains in place.