The West should not “fight for victory” against the nuclear state, says the Russian foreign minister at the UN

Ukraine and its Western allies should not try to “fight for victory with a nuclear power,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 28.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly highlighted the threat of its nuclear arsenal to deter Western military support for Ukraine.

In his speech to the General Assembly, Lavrov described the West's attempts to defeat Russia as a “suicidal escapade.”

“I will not talk here about the futility and danger of the very idea of ​​trying to fight for victory with a nuclear power, which is Russia,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov's comments come days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a revision of Moscow's nuclear doctrine at a UN Security Council meeting. Putin announced that Russia could respond to conventional missile attacks with nuclear weapons and indicated that Moscow would treat any attack supported by a nuclear-armed country as a coordinated attack.

Lavrov also mocked Ukraine's peace formula, calling it a “doomed ultimatum” while defending Russia's ongoing occupation of Ukrainian territory.

Russia's escalating nuclear rhetoric coincides with President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington, where he continued to press US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to use American weapons to attack targets deep inside Russia.

The US announced around $8 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine during the visit, but did not signal any changes to its policy on long-range strikes.

Zelensky's spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov said in an interview on Ukrainian television that Russia would “be the first to know” if restrictions on long-range attacks were lifted.

“First, it is important to understand that the Russians themselves will be the first to know about the authorization to penetrate deep into Russian territory,” Nikiforov said.

“You will be the first to know and then there will be an official announcement.”