Russia has said Western countries are playing with fire by considering allowing Ukraine to attack Russian soil with Western missiles and has warned the United States that World War III will not be limited to Europe.
Ukraine attacked Russia's western Kursk region on August 6, seizing swaths of territory in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War II. President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond accordingly.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who served as foreign minister under Putin for more than two decades, said Western countries were seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine and were “asking for trouble” by considering Ukraine's request to ease restrictions on the use of foreign-supplied weapons.
Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly warned of the risks of a larger war involving the world's largest nuclear power, but has said Russia does not want a conflict with the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“We are now reaffirming that for adult uncles and aunts in the West who have been entrusted with nuclear weapons, playing with fire is like a small child playing with matches – it is a very dangerous act,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.
“The Americans clearly believe that any talk about World War III, if it were to occur, would only affect Europe,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov added that Russia was “clarifying” its nuclear policy.
Russia's 2020 nuclear doctrine outlines circumstances under which the president would consider using nuclear weapons, generally in response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or conventional weapons, “when the very existence of the state is threatened.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of playing with fire by allowing Ukraine to attack deep into Russia, and said the possibility of World War III is not limited to Europe. Photo: EPA-EFE/Pool
Russia's response
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month that Russia's attack on the Kursk region showed that the Kremlin's threats of retaliation were a bluff.
Zelenskiy said restrictions imposed by its allies meant Ukraine could not use its weapons to attack Russian military targets, and he called on allies to make bolder decisions about how to support Kiev in the war.
Russia says Western weapons, including British tanks and US rocket systems, were used in the attack on Kursk in Ukraine. Kiev has confirmed that it used US Hymers missiles to destroy a bridge in Kursk.
Washington has said it was not informed of Ukrainian plans ahead of the surprise invasion of Kursk, and the United States has also said it had no involvement in the operation.
Putin's foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said on Tuesday he did not believe Western claims that Russia had nothing to do with the Kursk attack, while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said U.S. involvement was an “undisputed fact.”
The New York Times reported that the United States and Britain provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other intelligence of the Kursk region days after the Ukrainian attack.
The Times said the intelligence was intended to enable Ukraine to more accurately track Russian reinforcements.
