Russia warns of 'permanent world war' in furious attack on America

Raising the spectre of "a new world war" he said: "The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?"

He made his remarks after the UN Security Council slammed Russian bombing in Syria, in a move the Kremlin said "crossed the line".

Moscow now claims it proposed a ceasefire – and that foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had a "concrete" plan for peace in Syria – but other nations had not responded.

Tonight, French President Francois Hollande turned the tables on Moscow, accusing Russia of harming civilians and helping Syrian president Bashar al-Assad "massacre his own people".

Talking to Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper, Medvedev said the US and Russia must pressure all sides for peace or else face fighting a global conflict there.

He said it would be impossible to win such a war quickly, according to a German translation, "especially in the Arab world, where everybody is fighting against everybody".

Russia faced criticism from other UN security council member states over its bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Government forces, backed by Vladimir Putin's bombers, are trying to retake the rebel-held city but a humanitarian crisis is feared.

Vitaly Churkin, Putin's man at the UN, said his country's air strikes were undertaken in a {transparent manner" and the criticism "crossed the line".

"They rather crudely use humanitarian matters in order to play, we believe, a destructive role as far as the political process is concerned," he said.

Meanwhile in Washington, a government official admitted the Kremlin proposed a ceasefire to begin on March 1, but said there were concerns about parts of it.

US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly wants an immediate ceasefire – perhaps because it would give Syrian government forces less time to recapture Aleppo.

And the rebel opposition, which has been on the receiving end of Russian bombing, also said it could not accept a truce because they did not trust the Russians.

French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said: "The (Syrian) regime and its allies cannot pretend they are extending a hand to the opposition while with their other hand they are trying to destroy them."

(dailystar.co.uk)