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Tag: Lavrov

  • Sending fighter jets to Ukraine pose ‘direct nuclear threat’ – Russian minister cautions

    Sending fighter jets to Ukraine pose ‘direct nuclear threat’ – Russian minister cautions

    The transfer of F-16 fighter jets from NATO to Ukraine, according to Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister, poses a “direct nuclear threat” to Russia.

    In response to Nato’s promise to begin training Ukrainian pilots to operate the fighter jets in August, Sergey Lavrov spoke out.

    The Kremlin asserts that it forewarned the US, UK, and France about the dangers of giving Ukraine the jets.

    Lavrov said: ‘Just one example of an extremely dangerous turn of events is the United States plans to transfer F-16 fighter jets to the Kiev regime.

    ‘We have informed the nuclear powers, the United States, Britain and France, that Russia cannot ignore the ability of these aircraft to carry nuclear weapons.

    ‘No amount of assurances will help here.’

    Lavrov continued: ‘In the course of combat operations, our servicemen are not going to sort out whether each particular aircraft of this type is equipped to deliver nuclear weapons or not.

    ‘We will regard the very fact that the Ukrainian armed forces have such systems as a threat from the West in the nuclear sphere.’

    He also warned: ‘The United States and its Nato satellites are creating risks of a direct armed clash with Russia, and this is fraught with catastrophic consequences.

    ‘The conditions for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons are clearly defined in our military doctrine.

    ‘They are well known, and I will not repeat them once again.’

    He also accused countries at the Nato summit which was held in Vilnius, Lithuania, of ‘consistently lowering the threshold for the use of force and building up the nuclear capability in military planning’.

    A key theme of this year’s summit was Volodymyr Zelensky’s wish for Ukraine to join Nato.

    But defence secretary Ben Wallace said Zelensky needed to be mindful about keeping ‘doubting politicians’ on side following his complaints.

    Mr Wallace said he needed to show more ‘gratitude’ to western allies for arming Ukraine and said ‘we’re not Amazon’.

    In other news, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who staged a coup against Vladimir Putin, is likely dead or in jail, a former US military leader said.

    The mercenary leader ordered his soldiers to travel towards Moscow in a failed rebellion against the Kremlin in late June.

    The Russian president said his former caterer’s actions amounted to ‘armed mutiny’, and Prigozhin is now feared dead by experts.

  • Lavrov says any annexed regions in Ukraine would have Russia’s ‘full protection’

    Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said the four Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine where referendums are under way would be under Moscow’s “full protection” if they are annexed by Russia.

    Voting is taking place until Tuesday in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south on whether they should join Russia.

    Mr Lavrov was speaking in a news conference after addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

    Asked if Russia would have grounds for using nuclear weapons to defend annexed regions of Ukraine, Mr Lavrov said Russian territory, including territory “further enshrined” in Russia’s constitution in the future, “is under the full protection of the state”.

    “All of the laws, doctrines, concepts and strategies of the Russian Federation apply to all of its territory,” he said, also referring specifically to Russia’s doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons.

    Ukraine and western nations have said they will not recognise the results of the votes.

    Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Russia’s statements on the possible use of nuclear weapons were “absolutely unacceptable” and Kyiv would not give into them.

    “We call on all nuclear powers to speak out now and make it clear to Russia that such rhetoric puts the world at risk and will not be tolerated,” Mr Kuleba said.

    Ukraine has requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting over the referendums, accusing Russia of violating the UN Charter by attempting to change Ukraine’s borders, foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on Twitter.

     

     

    Source: Sky News