Headline27. Apr 2022
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Western countries’ arms aid to Ukraine undermined negotiations to end the fighting. Lavrov accused NATO of waging a third-party war in Ukraine, saying it could trigger a third world war.
Sergey Lavrov: “These weapons will be a legitimate target for the Russian armed forces operating within the framework of the special military operation. warehouses [de las armas], including those in western Ukraine, have been attacked more than once by Russian forces. This is inevitable since NATO is actually engaged in a war [con Rusia] by a third party and arms that third party. War means war.”
The Russian foreign minister also warned of the danger of nuclear war.
Sergey Lavrov: “The risks are really significant and I don’t want to artificially increase them. Many would wish for that. But the danger is serious and real, and we must not underestimate it.”
The United States called Lavrov’s comments about the possibility of nuclear war a “high point of irresponsibility.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres met Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. During the meeting, Putin agreed in principle to allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help evacuate civilians sheltering at a steel mill in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Guterres will meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv this Thursday. Visit our website demokratienow.org to see our interview with Professor Alfred McCoy on the war in Ukraine.