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Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about the danger of a third world war: “The danger is serious, real. It must not be underestimated.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was a “serious” threat of World War III as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a television interview with Russia’s Channel One on Monday (April 25), Lavrov accused the countries of the NATO military alliance of waging a “proxy war” in Ukraine by offering the Ukrainians arms and aid. That, according to the Russian minister, “is pouring even more gasoline on the fire” and he said everything must be done to avoid a third world war.
Lavrov was asked about a statement by US President Joe Biden that a nuclear conflict must be avoided.
“The risks are very great [de uma Terceira Guerra]. I don’t want to artificially inflate it,” Lavrov said, according to a transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry website. “The danger is serious, real. It must not be underestimated.”
Lavrov said Moscow and Washington should renew the commitment made by former Russian and American leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan that “there can be no winners in a nuclear war.”
The interviewer also asked Lavrov to compare the threat of a nuclear confrontation today with that during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis between the US and the Soviet Union.
“During the Cuban Missile Crisis, there weren’t many written rules, but the rules of conduct were clear enough. Moscow understood how Washington was behaving. Washington understood how Moscow was behaving. Now there are only a few rules left,” Lavrov said.
The British Armed Forces Minister said the Russian minister’s comments were just “showing off”.
“Lavrov’s trademark in the 15 or so years that he was Russia’s foreign minister was that kind of bravery. I don’t think there is an immediate risk of escalation now,” James Heappey told the BBC.
“What the West is doing to support its allies in Ukraine is very well coordinated.”
Asked about the possibility of Russia using a tactical nuclear weapon, Heappey said he thinks there is a “dwindling” possibility of such an escalation. Heappey said that while NATO is strengthening its eastern flank, it is not providing any military assistance.
The British government claims it is wrong to portray the war in Ukraine as a NATO effort against Russia.
“This is not a NATO effort, this is a community of donor nations making bilateral contributions to Ukrainians, and this donor community extends well beyond the borders of NATO,” the British minister told the BBC.
“It fits the Kremlin narrative to say that they are somewhat at odds with NATO. They said that even before the war started, but that doesn’t make sense and Lavrov knows it.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulebo said Lavrov’s comments were an attempt by Russia “to get the world not to support Ukraine”.
He said on Twitter that “talk of a ‘real’ threat of World War III only means that Moscow feels it is being defeated in Ukraine.”
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: “We want Russia to be weakened to the point where it can no longer do what it did when it invaded Ukraine.”
Fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine into nuclear war or even World War III (with NATO and Russian involvement) have been a constant concern since the invasion began.
In March, days after the invasion began, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his “deterrent forces” were combatready what he understood to be nuclear weapons in “combatready” mode.
This raised fears that Moscow could use “tactical” nuclear weapons which can be used at relatively short ranges. So far, however, none of this has been confirmed.
On Tuesday (April 26) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked whether he feared that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate to the nuclear level. He replied, “No.”
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