‘Considerable’ risk of nuclear war, Putin’s attack dog warns
VLADIMIR Putin’s attack-dog diplomat has accused the UK and other Western powers of risking nuclear war by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Sergei Lavrov claimed Nato’s support for Ukraine intended to weaken Russia and had pitched Moscow into a ‘proxy war’ with the security alliance.
In a chilling threat, he suggested the West’s continued provision of military aid meant there was a ‘considerable risk’ of a nuclear conflict.
Speaking at the Kremlin, the foreign minister, known for his disdain of the West, said: ‘Everyone is reciting incantations that in no case can we allow World War Three. The danger is serious. It is real. It should not be underestimated.
‘Nato has entered into a war with Russia through proxies and is arming those proxies and pouring oil on the fire.
‘Preventing nuclear war at all costs is our key position on which we base everything. But the risks are now considerable.
‘[Russia] has a feeling the West wants Ukraine to continue to fight and, as it seems to them, wear out, exhaust the Russian army and the Russian military industrial complex. This is an illusion.’
Last night, however, Vladimir Putin raised some hopes of an end to the fightwarring ing. As he welcomed United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the Kremlin, the Russian president said he hoped talks with Ukraine would yield ‘a positive result’.
He told Mr Guterres: ‘Despite the fact that the military operation is ongoing, we still hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the diplomatic track. We are negotiating, we do not reject (talks).’ Representatives of the parties are continuing to meet in virtual peace talks. But any summit between President Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky would require officials to first make significant progress in their online negotiations, the Kremlin leader said.
He claimed previous talks in Instanbul between the two sides had achieved a ‘a serious breakthrough’ but negotiations stalled following the discovery of the slaughter of civilians in Bucha, which Russia claims was staged by the West.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said yesterday: ‘I think that what needs to happen to cause the conflict to come to an end is Mr Putin needs to make a decision to end this conflict. He’s the person that started it. It will be his decision to de-escalate and then go back to the negotiating table.’ The two-month long campaign has unquestionably weakened Russia, with more than 20,000 of its soldiers feared dead, the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet sunk and thousands of its aircraft, tanks and other vehicles destroyed.
Ukraine seized upon Mr Lavrov’s comments, as his opposite number in Kyiv, Dmytro Kuleba, said: ‘This only means Moscow senses defeat in Ukraine.
‘Therefore the world must double-down on supporting Ukraine so that we prevail and safeguard European and global security.’ The UK’s Armed Forces Minister James
Heappey described the Kremlin claims as ‘bravado’ while Mr Austin condemned them as ‘dangerous sabre-rattling’.
He said: ‘Nobody can win a nuclear war and any bluster about using nuclear weapons is unhelpful. The US will do everything in its power, and Ukraine will do everything in its power, to ensure the conflict does not spin out of control. We are always mindful of having the right balance.’
But the West’s military support for Ukraine, which was reiterated at a Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Germany yesterday, could lead to the break-up of the country, Russia warned yesterday.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council and a key ally of President Putin, said: ‘The result of the policy of the West and the regime in Kyiv can only be the disintegration of Ukraine into several states.
‘The Americans have cynically chosen Ukraine in an attempt to suppress Russia and have tried to divide essentially a single people.’
His remarks may have revealed Russia’s position in any future peace talks, with Ukraine’s eastern regions either becoming an independent country or part of the Russian Federation, in return for a ceasefire. But any settlement appeared a distant prospect last night following the visit to Moscow by Mr Guterres.
After meetings with Mr Lavrov, the UN chief said it was clear there remained ‘two different positions on what is happening in Ukraine’, the position held by Russia and the position held by Ukraine and its allies. Mr Guterres is also due to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
President Zelensky condemned Mr Guterres’ decision to visit Moscow first as Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian cities continued.
‘Dangerous sabre-rattling’