Russia’s top diplomat has warned against provoking World War Three and said the threat of a nuclear conflict “should not be underestimated”. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said weapons supplied by Western countries “will be a legitimate target”, adding that Russian forces had already targeted weapons warehouses in western Ukraine.
“Everyone is reciting incantations that in no case can we allow World War Three,” Mr Lavrov said in a wide-ranging interview on Russian television. He accused Ukrainian leaders of provoking Russia by asking Nato to become involved in the conflict.
By providing weapons, Nato forces are “pouring oil on the fire”, he said, according to a transcript on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
