Russian Diplomat Says Nuclear War Threat Is Real – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the threat of nuclear war is significant and the risks for Russia and the West should not be underestimated.
In an interview that was broadcast on Russian state-owned Channel One, Lavrov spelled out the dangers of a nuclear conflict while stating that the countries that comprise the “nuclear five” back in January reaffirmed the inadmissibility of nuclear weapons in a conflict.
“This is our principled position. We proceed from it. And I would very much not like that now, when, as you said, referring to respected political scientists, when the risks are really very, very significant, I would very much not like these risks to be artificially were inflated, and there are many who want them. The danger is serious, it is real, it cannot be underestimated,” Lavrov stated.
Lavrov added that the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are legitimate military targets and that NATO’s continued arming of Ukraine is akin to “pouring oil on the fire,” according to the transcript of the interview.
But the UK’s Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said that Lavrov’s comments are just “bravado” that is common with his track record.
“Lavrov’s trademark over the course of 15 years or so that he has been the Russian foreign secretary has been that sort of bravado. I don’t think that right now there is an imminent threat of escalation,” Heappey said during an interview with the BBC Breakfast program on Tuesday.
Lavrov’s comments came in light of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s statement on Monday that Washington wants to see Russia “weakened” as one of the primary factors for arming and supporting Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
The US is also set to host a meeting with officials from more than 40 countries this week for Ukraine-related defense talks that will focus on how to coordinate and speed arm deliveries to Ukraine.
Lavrov characterized this action as NATO becoming involved in the war. “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”
Russia Hits Six Railway Hubs In Central and Western Ukraine:
In response to trying to stop the influx of Western arms shipments to Ukrainian as well as learning that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Kyiv by rail, Russia attacked six railway hubs. The Ukrainians said that five railway hubs were hit.
“They are trying to destroy the supply routes of military-technical assistance from partner states. To do this, they focus strikes on railway junctions,” the Ukrainian armed forces wrote in a post on their Facebook page.
With Ukraine’s Black Sea ports closed to economic and passenger traffic, the Ukrainian rail system, one of Europe’s largest, takes on a much more important cog to move weapons east and southward and for the evacuation of civilians west. It is also being used to ship Ukraine’s grain to the rest of the world, which is usually done by ships on the Black Sea.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of Ukraine’s railway system said, “This morning, within an hour, five railway stations in central and western Ukraine came under fire,” adding that there were casualties and that 19 trains had been delayed in a post on his Telegram account.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
