Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, has cautioned that Moscow would view any efforts to detain Vladimir Putin abroad after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest as a "declaration of war."
After Putin dispatched troops to Ukraine, Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012, has been more hawkish in his statements and has frequently threatened to use nuclear weapons.
He claimed that if a nation detained Putin, Russian weapons would strike that nation.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) last week announced an arrest order for the Russian president, who is charged with sending Ukrainian minors abroad.
The Putin ally stated, "Let's suppose — it's apparent that this is a circumstance that will never happen — but let's imagine it does."
"Let's imagine the present leader of a nuclear state travels to Germany and is detained. This is what? an act of war against the Russian Federation.
If this occurred, "all of our means, rockets and other things, will fly on the Bundestag, in the Chancellor's Office and so on," according to Medvedev.
The decision of the ICC, according to Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's security council, will worsen already tense relations with the West.
His remarks came two days after Russia announced that the International Criminal Court's prosecutor Karim Khan and four other judges were under criminal investigation for making "illegal" decisions.
The Russian president's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, was also the subject of an arrest warrant from the Hague-based court.
The ICC's legislative body expressed concern on Wednesday for "threats" made against the tribunal regarding its warrant.
The assembly's chair issued a statement in which it expressed concern for the attempts to obstruct international efforts to seek responsibility for activities that are against general international law.