Ukraine War: Why Russia Says WW3 Risk Is ‘Serious’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was a “serious” risk of World War III as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a television interview with Russia’s Channel One on Monday 25/4, Lavrov accused the countries of the NATO military alliance of waging a “proxy” war in Ukraine by offering weapons and aid to the Ukrainians. According to the Russian minister, is this “to throw more gasoline on the fire”? and that everything must be done to avoid World War III.

Lavrov was asked about US President Joe Biden’s statement that a nuclear conflict should be avoided.

“Risks are very important [de uma Terceira Guerra]. “I don’t want to inflate it artificially,” Lavrov said, according to a statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. “The danger is serious, real. It cannot be underestimated.”

Lavrov said Moscow and Washington must renew their commitment that former Russian and American leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan “cannot be a winner in nuclear war”.

The interviewer also asked Lavrov to compare the danger of a nuclear conflict today with the danger experienced during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union.

“During the Cuban missile crisis, there weren’t many written rules, but the code of conduct was clear enough. Moscow understood how Washington acted. Washington understood how Moscow acted. Now there are very few rules left,” Lavrov said. said.

The British Armed Forces Minister said the Russian minister’s comments were just “bravado”.

“This kind of bravado was the hallmark of Lavrov in the nearly 15 years he was Russia’s foreign minister,” James Heappey told the BBC. “I don’t think there is an imminent escalation threat at the moment.”

“What the West is doing to support its allies in Ukraine is very well calibrated.”

When asked about the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons, Heappey said he thought there was “reducing” probability of such an escalation. Heappey said NATO did not provide military assistance while strengthening its eastern flank.

The British government claims that it is wrong to view the war in Ukraine as a NATO effort against Russia.

“This is not a NATO effort, this is a community of donor nations making bilateral contributions to the Ukrainians and the donor community extends far beyond NATO borders,” the British minister told the BBC.

“To say that they somehow contradicted NATO fits with the Kremlin’s narrative. They were saying that even before the war started, but that doesn’t make sense and Lavrov knows it.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulebo said Lavrov’s comments were an attempt by Russia to “frighten the world not to support Ukraine”.

“To speak of a ‘real’ danger of WW3 only means that Moscow feels it will be defeated in Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter.

Fear of the conflict in Ukraine escalating into a nuclear war or even a Third World War (involving NATO and Russia) has been a constant source of concern since the beginning of the invasion.

In March, days after the invasion began, did Russian President Vladimir Putin say his “deterrent forces” were ready for war? What was understood as a nuclear weapon? In “Battle Ready” mode.

Did this raise fears that Moscow might use “tactical” nuclear weapons? can be used over relatively short distances. However, none of these have been confirmed so far.

On Tuesday 26/4, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked if he was concerned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate to a nuclear level. “No,” he replied.