A Russian official has claimed that if Donald Trump carries on, WW3 will 'undoubtedly begin'.
We're only just into the third month of 2026, but we've already seen the US abduct the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolas Maduro, and renew missile strikes on Iran, which they have confirmed has resulted in their supreme leader being killed.
Trump has said the US and Israel can keep up this rate of attacks for several more weeks and declared that the US objectives were to wipe out Iran's missiles and navy, stop the Iranian government from developing nuclear weapons and for them to stop supplying terrorist groups.
Dmitry Medvedev, one of Vladimir Putin's close allies and the guy he tagged in to be Russia's president so he could get around term limit laws, said Trump was on an 'insane course' which would lead to a third world war.
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Asked if WW3 had already started, he told TASS: "Formally, no, but if Trump continues his insane course of criminal regime change, it will undoubtedly begin. And any event could be the trigger. Any event."
Medvedev also described the US and their allies participating in the war with Iran as 'pigs' who 'don't want to give up their trough'.
He then went on to say that Trump has 'made a grave mistake', adding: "With his decision, he has put all Americans at potential risk, even though the Iranian regime is not popular in neighbouring Arab countries.
"More importantly, the late Ayatollah was the spiritual father of nearly 300 million Shiites. And now he is also a martyr. You can imagine the rest. And now there is no doubt that Iran will pursue the creation of nuclear weapons with redoubled energy."
Iran has been an ally of Russia, supplying drones for their attempts to enter Ukraine, which have now passed four years without success in what was initially supposed to be a three-day 'special military operation'.
In the wake of the strikes against Iran by the US and Israel, Russia described it as 'a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state', warning that it could risk triggering 'humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe' by 'plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation'.
Russia has certainly demonstrated that countries can start wars whenever they like, but ending them and on what terms is never certain.
The former Russian president has a habit of saying things Putin would like said but would not utter himself, and has been an outspoken figure in the past with rhetoric targeted at the US.
Given Trump has taken out two heads of state in as many months this year, Medvedev was also asked about the possibility that the US might try to take out Putin as they did the Ayatollah.
"There is no magic cure for the actions of complete idiots and clinical bulls**t, nor can there ever be," he said. "There is only one guarantee: the US fears Russia and knows the price of nuclear conflict. If it happens, Hiroshima and Nagasaki will seem like child's play in the sandbox."
Very safe rhetoric from him there.
Last year, Trump spoke about the sort of response the world can expect if someone tries to take him out, though he said 'that would be a terrible thing for them to do'.
If he dies in office, JD Vance gets to be in charge.
Why is Russia not supporting its ally Iran?
While Medvedev and the Russian foreign office have condemned the US-Israel strikes on Iran, experts say there is little chance of Russia providing military support.
This is despite Iran providing Russia with Shahed 136 drones to fight its war with Ukraine, and Russia in turn helping Iran modernise its military hardware.
There are several reasons Putin will be reluctant to aid Iran. Firstly, Al Jazeera notes, Israel and Russia currently enjoy an informal agreement not to attack each other.
Western sanctions against Russia don't apply in Israel, making it a safe haven for the Moscow elite.
Intervention in any conflict between the US and Iran could also move the dial on Donald Trump's stance on the war in Ukraine - so far, he has remained relatively neutral.
Matt Gerken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research, told CNBC that Russia's military and economy had taken a battering from the Ukraine conflict and Western sanctions, so it is wary of overstretching itself.
It's also worth remembering that turmoil in the Middle East currently benefits Russia by driving up oil prices.
“Putin’s got to be thrilled, because anything that raises the price of oil is good for him,” Ellen Wald, president of Transversal Consulting, told CNBC. “He’s definitely able to say: if you can’t get oil from the Gulf, hey, we’ve got a great supply.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Russia, Iran, US News, World News
Joe Harker