Ukraine attacked Russia's western Kursk region on August 6, seizing a chunk of territory in the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War II. President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond appropriately to the attack.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the West was seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine and was “looking for trouble” by considering Ukraine’s request to ease restrictions on the use of foreign-supplied weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Photo: TASS
Since the conflict with Ukraine in 2022, Mr Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much larger war involving the world's biggest nuclear powers, although he has said Russia does not want conflict with the US-led NATO alliance.
"We are now confirming once again that playing with fire - like children playing with matches - is a very dangerous thing for adult uncles and aunts who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in a certain Western country," Lavrov told reporters in Moscow.
Russia's 2020 nuclear doctrine spells out when the country's president would consider using nuclear weapons: generally in response to an attack with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction or conventional weapons "when the existence of the state is threatened."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that the attack on Russia’s Kursk region showed the Kremlin’s threats were empty words. He called on allies to be bolder in their decisions about how to aid Kiev in the war.
Russia says Western weapons, including British tanks and US missile systems, were used by Ukraine in Kursk. Kiev has confirmed using US HIMARS missiles to destroy the bridges in Kursk.
Washington said it was not informed of Ukraine’s plans before the surprise attack on Kursk. The US also said it was not involved in the operation.
The head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, Sergei Naryshkin, said on Tuesday that Moscow did not believe Western assertions that it had nothing to do with the Kursk attack. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said US involvement was "an obvious fact".
The New York Times reported that the United States and the United Kingdom provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other information about the Kursk region in the days after the Ukrainian offensive. The intelligence was intended to help Ukraine better track Russian reinforcements.
Hoang Hai (according to TASS, Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nga-canh-bao-my-va-phuong-tay-ve-nguy-co-xay-ra-the-chien-thu-ba-post309560.html
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