Amid spiraling tensions with the West over Russia’s ongoing massive military operation against Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday accused Western leaders of fixating on nuclear war. He also compared the US to French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and German dictator Adolf Hitler.
“It is clear that World War Three can only be nuclear. I would like to point out that it’s in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians. Therefore I assure you that we will not allow any provocations to throw us off balance,” news agency AFP quoted Lavrov as saying in an online interview with Russian and foreign media.
“In their time, both Napoleon and Hitler set themselves the task of subjugating Europe. Now the Americans have subdued it,” he was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, Lavrov warned that a third World War will be “nuclear and devastating”. “A third World War would be a devastating nuclear war,” Russia’s longtime top diplomat said in an interview to the Al Jazeera television channel, according to state-owned TASS news agency.
He underlined US President Joe Biden’s statement that a World War III would be an alternative to Washington’s tough sanctions against Russia. Lavrov also said that Moscow was ready for sanctions against it but was surprised to see that the penalties affected athletes and journalists.
“We were ready for sanctions but did not expect that they would affect athletes, intellectuals, actors and journalists, he said, referring to the ban and sanctions by Western countries.
Earlier, Lavrov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying that Russia will not allow Ukraine to obtain nuclear weapons.
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear forces be put on high alert, accusing the Western nations of taking “unfriendly” steps against the country.
Russia has the world’s largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country’s deterrence forces.
(with inputs from AFP and PTI)
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