Ukraine war: Russia warns West against “fighting for victory with a nuclear power”

Russia's top diplomat on Saturday warned against “attempting to fight for victory with a nuclear power” and delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he criticized the West's machinations in Ukraine and elsewhere – including within the United Nations itself. condemned what Russia sees as Western machinations.

Three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a change in his country's nuclear doctrine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of using Ukraine – which Russia invaded in February 2022 – as a tool to “strategically defeat” Moscow and ” Prepare Europe”. so that it also throws itself into this 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,” he said.

Putin's recent announcement – which appeared to significantly lower the hurdle for the possible use of Russia's nuclear arsenal – was seen as a message to the US and other Western countries as Ukraine seeks its green light to attack Russia with longer-range weapons.

“Whether or not they will give Ukraine authorization for long-range weapons, we will see how they understood what they heard,” Lavrov said at a news conference after his speech on Saturday.