NATO, Moscow claimed, was participating in a proxy war against Russia by equipping Ukraine, posing a serious and genuine threat of nuclear war.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was asked on state television about the necessity of preventing World War Three and whether the current situation was equivalent to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in a dramatic escalation of Russian rhetoric.
According to the ministry’s transcript of the interview, Lavrov added, “The risks now are substantial.”
“I wouldn’t want to artificially inflate such risks. That would be appealing to many people. The threat is genuine and dangerous. We must not, however, undervalue it “According to Lavrov.
“NATO is, in effect, fighting Russia through a proximate and equipping that proximate. War is war.”
Lavrov’s comments came as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was poised to organize a summit of more than 40 countries at a German airbase to discuss equipping Ukraine to counter Russia’s ongoing military offensive in the east.
“The next several weeks will be very, very critical,” Mark Milley Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, told reporters accompanying him. “In order to be successful on the battlefield, they will require ongoing support. That is, after all, the point of this gathering.”
General Milley stated that the goal is to arrange aid that includes heavy weaponry such as howitzer artillery, as well as killer drones and ammunition.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister said he saw Russia’s scaremongering as a sign of weakness.
After Lavrov’s interview, Kuleba remarked on Twitter that Russia has lost its “final hope to scare the world away from backing Ukraine.” “This can only mean Moscow is on the verge of collapsing.”
The Russian danger was similarly downplayed by Britain.
“That sort of arrogance has become Lavrov’s trademark throughout the course of his 15 years as Russian foreign minister. I don’t believe there is an urgent prospect of escalation at this time “James Heappey, the Minister for the Armed Forces, told BBC Television.
The US State Department approved a potential $165 million munitions sale to Ukraine on Monday. The package could include ammo for howitzers, tanks, and grenade launchers, according to the Pentagon.
The Russian ambassador to the United States warned the US to stop supplies, saying that Western weaponry was inflaming the conflict.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday, the highest-profile peace mission since the war began, though Western countries have expressed doubts about a breakthrough.
Thousands of people have been killed or injured as a result of Russia’s two-month invasion of Ukraine, which has turned towns and cities to rubble and driven more than 5 million people to escape abroad.
Moscow refers to its efforts as a “special operation” aimed at disarming Ukraine and defending it against fascists. This, according to Ukraine and the West, is an excuse for an unprovoked war of attack.
Russia has yet to take control of any of Ukraine’s major cities. Last month, its massive invasion force was forced to retreat from the outskirts of Kyiv due to fierce resistance. However, Russia has subsequently proclaimed a new war aimed mostly at the east and has dispatched additional forces to the region for an assault on two provinces where it has backed a separatist uprising.
“It is evident that everyone in Ukraine is concerned about peace, about when it will all be finished,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Monday.
“At this point, there is no easy answer.”
Russia’s offensive in the eastern Kharkiv region continued on Tuesday, according to Ukraine’s military staff, with Russian forces attempting to move towards the village of Zavody.
While focusing on the east and south, Russia has also launched missiles and airstrikes against targets in other parts of Ukraine. Its defense ministry announced that it had destroyed six facilities that provided power to railways used to transport foreign weapons to Ukrainian soldiers.
On Monday, Russian missile strikes on five railway stations killed one railway worker and injured four others, according to the president of Ukraine’s state rail corporation.
According to the Ukrainian military command in the southern and eastern regions, Ukrainian forces have repelled five Russian attacks, killing just over 200 Russian servicemen. A total of five tanks and eight armored vehicles were also destroyed, according to the statement. It was unable to verify the reports.
According to a British military update released on Tuesday, Russia is most likely seeking to encircle heavily defended Ukrainian forces in the country’s east.
According to reports, the town of Kreminna has fallen, with intense combat in the south of the city of Izyum, as Russian forces try to move towards the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, according to the British military ministry on Twitter.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod border province, said Ukraine had fired on two villages across the border, injuring at least two people.
According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych, Russian forces continued to bomb and shell the enormous Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol, where fighters are holed up.
