Russia has issued a chilling new threat to the UK over continued weapon supplies to Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said strikes could be authorised against NATO member countries' military targets.
She said: "Do we understand correctly that for the sake of disrupting the logistics of military supplies, Russia can strike military targets on the territory of those Nato countries that supply arms to the Kyiv regime?"
"After all, this directly leads to deaths and bloodshed on Ukrainian territory. As far as I understand, Britain is one of those countries.”
On Wednesday Putin also seemed to hint at a possible nuclear attack, telling assembled Russian lawmakers: "If someone intends to interfere in what is going on from the outside they must know that constitutes an unacceptable strategic threat to Russia.
"They must know that our response to counter strikes will be lightning fast. Fast."
He went on: "We have all the weapons we need for this. No one else can brag about these weapons, and we won't brag about them. But we will use them."
It comes after Russia also warned NATO weapons were a "legitimate" target in Ukraine - and that British diplomats in Kyiv could be targeted.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "nuclear" action was a "real" danger, adding the risk of World War 3 was now "considerable".
In a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television, Lavrov also said that the core of any agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine would depend largely on the military situation on the ground.
The Putin loyalist had been asked about the importance of avoiding World War Three and whether the current situation was comparable to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, a low point in U.S-Soviet relations.
Lavrov said, was doing a lot to uphold the principle of striving to prevent nuclear war at all costs.
"This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable," Lavrov said.
"I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that."
“Everyone is reciting incantations that in no case can we allow World War Three,” said the" the hardline foreign minister added on Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) programme on state-run Channel 1 television.
“The threat is serious, it is real, and it should not be underestimated.”
It comes after 'Putin's voice' on Russian state TV threatened to 'wipe Britain off the map' with President Vladimir Putin’s new 'big beast' hypersonic 208-ton 15,880mph 'Satan-2' intercontinental ballistic missile.
The first regiment to deploy the new 'unstoppable' missile will be in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and they are to go into use this year.
"As it turned out, one Sarmat means minus one Great Britain," said pro-Putin TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov, threatening the UK in a crude remark to viewers.
The threat was because the British had got "totally boorish," the popular host - known as 'Putin's voice' - said, seemingly referring to the UK's ongoing support for Ukraine.
Russia's two-month-old invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has left thousands dead or injured, reduced towns and cities to rubble and forced over 5 million people to flee abroad.
Moscow calls its actions a "special operation" to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists - a claim that has been widely and consistently refuted by the Ukraine and its allies.
Lavrov, defending Moscow's actions, also blamed Washington for the lack of dialogue.
"The United States has practically ceased all contacts simply because we were obliged to defend Russians in Ukraine," Lavrov said, repeating the rationale for Moscow's invasion of its southern neighbour.
But he said Western supplies of sophisticated weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, armoured vehicles and advanced drones were provocative measures calculated to prolong the conflict rather than bring it to an end.
"These weapons will be a legitimate target for Russia's military acting within the context of the special operation," Lavrov said.
"Storage facilities in western Ukraine have been targeted more than once (by Russian forces). How can it be otherwise?" he added. "Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war."
