Kremlin Mum on Medvedev's Preemptive Strike Threat Against West

The Kremlin on Thursday declined to comment on remarks made by former president Dmitry Medvedev about potential preemptive strikes on the West, but said Medvedev was right to draw attention to a "confrontational environment" in Europe.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said earlier on Thursday that the West was practically waging a full-scale war against Russia and that Moscow should respond in full and, if necessary, launch preemptive strikes, the TASS state news agency reported.

Asked about the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he would not comment in detail as he was a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin and not Medvedev, but that Medvedev had vast experience and was expressing his own opinion.