Four days after Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his country’s nuclear deterrent forces on “special” alert and a week after Moscow launched a brutal war against Ukraine, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian and foreign media, “It is clear that World War 3 can only be nuclear.”
“I would like to point out that it is in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov reiterated that Moscow could not tolerate military threats from Ukraine, which he said was taking orders from Washington.
“I assure you that we will not allow any provocations to throw us off balance,” he added.
The Russian military operation against Ukraine is aimed, among other things, at ensuring that Kyiv does not join Nato, Lavrov said.
He further said that he had no doubt that a solution to the Ukrainian crisis will be found, but Russia’s dialogue with the West needs to be based on mutual respect.
