Medvedev also said "vulnerable and divided" Europe is unprepared for a war with Russia, calling its citizens "inert and pampered," adding that they "don’t want to fight for any common ideals, or even for their own land."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law denouncing the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, according to a government website.

That campaign now seems to be migrating into the skies above Europe. For decades Russia has occasionally strayed into the national airspace of NATO allies, which follows national borders and extends 12 nautical miles from a country’s shoreline.

Russia gets the microphone at the U.N. world leaders' meeting Saturday, three years into an invasion of Ukraine that the international community has broadly deplored and a that powerful member newly says Ukraine can repel.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Europe could not afford a war against Russia but that if its leaders made the mistake of triggering one then it could escalate into a conflict with weapons of mass destruction.

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Monday (Sep 29) signed a law pulling Russia out of a European anti-torture convention, continuing Moscow’s withdrawal from Western institutions since the start of its war in Ukraine.

Right now, though, U.S. leadership appears reticent. Coincidentally or not, the serious airspace violations have happened since Trump’s summit with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August, when the U.S. leader dropped his demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

NATO scrambles to counter Russian drones and airspace violations. Poland vows shootdowns, but allies fear escalation as Europe shoulders defence burden.