Russia accuses NATO of proxy battle, talks up nuclear war risk
Russia accused NATO of engaging in a proxy battle that created a serious risk of nuclear war, as the United States convened its allies yesterday at a German air base to pledge the heavy weapons Ukraine needs to achieve victory.
With Russian forces having been forced back from Kiev and now trying a new advance in Ukraine’s east, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomed officials from over 40 countries to Ramstein, headquarters of US air power in Europe.
“Nations from around the world stand united in our resolve to support Ukraine,” Austin said. “Ukraine clearly believes that it can win, and so does everyone here.”
In a marked escalation of Russian rhetoric, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was asked on state TV about the prospect of World War III and whether the current situation was comparable to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that nearly caused nuclear war.
“The risks now are considerable,” Lavrov said, according to the ministry’s transcript of the interview.
“The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it,” he said. “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”
US officials have shifted emphasis from speaking mainly about helping Kiev defend itself to talk of a Ukrainian victory that would deliver a blow to Russia’s ability to threaten neighbors in the future.
Austin, who visited Kiev along with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, said on Monday: “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in Ukraine.”
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, flying to yesterday’s meeting, told reporters the next several weeks in Ukraine would be “very, very critical.”
“They need continued support in order to be successful on the battlefield. And that’s really the purpose of this conference.”
The aim would be to coordinate aid that includes heavy weapons such as howitzer artillery, as well as killer drones and ammunition, General Milley said.
Kiev and its allies played down Lavrov’s remarks about nuclear war. Russia had lost its “last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted after Lavrov’s interview. “This only means Moscow senses defeat.”
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