{"id":48147,"date":"2022-04-26T05:23:25","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T05:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48147"},"modified":"2022-04-26T05:23:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T05:23:25","slug":"russia-ukraine-war-lavrov-warns-of-risk-of-nuclear-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=48147","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov warns of risk of nuclear conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the conflict in Ukraine risked escalating into a third world war and that NATO was \u201cin essence\u201d engaged in a proxy war with Moscow by supplying Kyiv with weapons.<\/p>\n<p>In a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television on Monday, Lavrov said the risk of a nuclear conflict must not be underestimated and that the core of any agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine would depend largely on the military situation on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>The interview was aired hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/4\/25\/blinken-austin-promise-ukraine-more-aid-return-of-us-diplomats\">visited Kyiv and promised more military assistance<\/a> to Ukraine. Austin said the United States wanted to see Russia \u201cweakened\u201d and pledged to arm Ukraine to help it win against Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>The US is also due to host a gathering of more than 40 countries this week for Ukraine-related defence talks that will focus on more weapons deliveries.<\/p>\n<p>During Monday\u2019s interview, Lavrov was asked about the importance of avoiding World War III and whether the current situation was comparable to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a low point in US-Soviet relations.<\/p>\n<p>Russia, Lavrov said, was doing a lot to uphold the principle of striving to prevent nuclear war at all costs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"434\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VjggRunS404?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" width=\"770\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s two-month-old invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has left thousands dead or wounded, reduced towns and cities to rubble and forced more than 5 million people to flee abroad.<\/p>\n<p>Moscow calls its actions a \u201cspecial military operation\u201d to disarm Ukraine and protect it from Nazis. Kyiv and the West says this a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression on a sovereign country by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader early on in the war also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/2\/27\/putin-puts-russias-nuclear-deterrent-forces-on-alert\">put his nuclear deterrent forces on high alert<\/a>, citing \u201caggressive statements\u201d from the West.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Legitimate target\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Lavrov, defending Moscow\u2019s actions, also blamed Washington for the lack of dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe United States has practically ceased all contacts simply because we were obliged to defend Russians in Ukraine,\u201d Lavrov claimed, repeating the rationale for Moscow\u2019s invasion of its southern neighbour.<\/p>\n<p>But he said Western supplies of sophisticated weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, armoured vehicles and advanced drones were provocative measures calculated to prolong the conflict rather than bring it to an end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese weapons will be a legitimate target for Russia\u2019s military acting within the context of the special operation,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStorage facilities in western Ukraine have been targeted more than once [by Russian forces]. How can it be otherwise?\u201d he added. \u201cNATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that Kyiv authorities were not negotiating in good faith and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former actor, was like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in playing to the public rather than addressing the task at hand \u2013 negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are similar in a way in their ability to play to the gallery. For example, they imitate negotiations,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"434\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jjsOtCekJaU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" width=\"770\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, he said, Moscow will continue speaking with the Ukrainian negotiating team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs in any situation where armed forces are used, of course, everything will end with a treaty, but the parameters of this treaty will be determined by the stage of military actions at which this treaty becomes a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lavrov\u2019s comments come after reports emerged that Putin has taken off the table any possibility of signing an agreement with Ukraine following the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/4\/15\/explainer-what-is-the-significance-of-the-moskva-sinking\">sinking of the Moskva<\/a>, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.<\/p>\n<p>The Financial Times newspaper, citing three people briefed on conversations with the Russian president, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a16c4ecd-e835-4e71-a12d-c7bec9f34d7c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> earlier on Monday that Putin now appears set on seizing as much Ukrainian territory as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe needs to find a way to come out of this a winner,\u201d one of the people said. But \u201cafter the Moskva, he doesn\u2019t look like a winner, because it was humiliating\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The sinking of the Moskva follows Russia\u2019s decision to pull out from Ukraine\u2019s north and abandon plans to seize the capital, its stated goal when it launched the February 24 invasion.<\/p>\n<p>Moscow now says its goal is to take the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking industrial region in eastern Ukraine. While both sides say the campaign in the east is underway, Russia has yet to mount an all-out ground offensive and has not achieved any significant breakthroughs.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said late on Monday that Lavrov\u2019s warnings of a nuclear conflict only \u201cmeant Moscow senses defeat\u201d and urged the West to keep supporting Kyiv.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-dnt=\"true\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Russia loses last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine. Thus the talk of a \u2018real\u2019 danger of WWIII. 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DmytroKuleba\/status\/1518698466758864898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cRussia loses last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine,\u201d Kuleba wrote on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus the talk of a \u2018real\u2019 danger of WWIII. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the conflict in Ukraine risked escalating into a third world war and that NATO was \u201cin essence\u201d engaged in a proxy war with Moscow by supplying Kyiv with weapons. In a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television on Monday, Lavrov said the risk of a nuclear conflict&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}