Lindsey Graham, a United States Senator from the Republican Party, has commented on a statement by Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, in which he threatened to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Graham said on Twitter it is "time [for Russians – ed.] to sober up, realize" that their barbaric invasion of Ukraine "is not working, withdraw and save many young Russians from a pointless death."

"To my Russian friends who talk about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: You need to understand that would be an attack on NATO itself, given Ukraine’s proximity to NATO territory," Graham emphasised.

To my Russian friends who talk about using nuclear weapons in Ukraine: You need to understand that would be an attack on NATO itself, given Ukraine’s proximity to NATO territory.

Time to sober up, realize that your barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not working, withdraw and save…

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 31, 2023

Earlier, the White House called Medvedev's rhetoric "reckless and irresponsible," stressing that so far Washington has not seen any signs of Russia preparing a nuclear strike.

On Sunday, on his Telegram channel, Medvedev expressed fear of Ukraine's counteroffensive and wrote: "if you imagine that the offensive by the Ukrainian Banderites [a Russian cliche based on a distorted image of Stepan Bandera, the leader of Ukrainian nationalists in the 20th century – ed.] with the support of NATO was successful and they took away part of our land, then we would have to resort to the use of nuclear weapons in accordance with the rules of the decree of the President of Russia, dated 2 June 2020".

"There is simply no other way out," he added.

Moscow has resorted to nuclear threats from time to time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Intelligence and Western leaders consider such a scenario unlikely.