Medvedev warns of war

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, May 17 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned Thursday military intervention in the affairs of sovereign states could lead to war, even nuclear war.

The Russian prime minister alluded to the situations in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, telling a legal forum in St. Petersburg the right of nations to choose their own path of development is a universal value, RIA Novosti reported.

"The introduction of all sorts of collective sanctions bypassing international institutions does not improve the situation in the world while reckless military operations in foreign states usually end up with radicals coming to power," Medvedev said.

"At some point such actions, which undermine state sovereignty, may well end in a full-blown regional war" and "even the use of nuclear weapons," he warned.

Medvedev will hold bilateral talks with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight summit, which begins Friday at Camp David in Maryland, a Kremlin aide said.