Russia has issued a stark warning to the U.S, cautioning that permitting Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep into Russian territory is akin to “playing with fire.”
The Russian government also warned the United States that a potential World War Three would not be confined to Europe.
This warning follows a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s western Kursk region on August 6, the most significant foreign assault on Russian soil since World War Two.
In response, President Vladimir Putin pledged that Russia would deliver an appropriate retaliation.
According to Reuters, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s long-serving foreign minister, accused the U.S of deliberately escalating the conflict in Ukraine by considering Ukraine’s requests to relax restrictions on the use of foreign-supplied weapons. Lavrov characterized this move as “asking for trouble.”
Since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has frequently warned of the risks of a broader conflict involving the world’s leading nuclear powers.
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However, he has also stated that Russia does not seek a confrontation with the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
“Playing with fire, like children playing with matches, is perilous, especially for those in the West entrusted with nuclear weapons,” said Lavrov, while speaking to reporters in Moscow.
According to Lavrov, many Americans seem to believe that any potential World War Three would be limited to Europe, a notion he dismissed as dangerously naive.
Lavrov said Russia is “clarifying” its nuclear doctrine.
According to Russia’s 2020 nuclear policy, the use of nuclear weapons would be considered in response to an attack using weapons of mass destruction or conventional weapons if the very existence of the Russian state is threatened.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggested earlier this month that Russia’s threats of retaliation following the attack on Kursk were merely bluster.
