At a press conference after addressing the United Nations General Assembly, he walked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Following in the footsteps of his president, Vladimir Putin, he brandished nuclear in order to protect the territories that will join his country after the referendums in eastern and southern Ukraine.
In response to a question whether Russia has justifications for using nuclear weapons to defend the areas it annexed, he said, “After these referendums, Russia will respect the expression of the will of those people who have suffered for many years from the violations of the neo-Nazi regime,” Archyde.com reported on Sunday.
He also added that “Russian lands, including those additionally included in the Russian constitution in the future, are fully under the protection of the state.”
He said that “all Russian laws, including those related to the use of nuclear weapons, apply to all the territories belonging to Russia.”
Nuclear Weapon (Emoji from iStock)
‘irresponsible statements’
On the other hand, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed in the early hours of this morning that these statements are totally unacceptable,” stressing that his country will not surrender to them.
He said in a tweet on Twitter, “Statements Putin And Lavrov’s irresponsibility about the possible use of nuclear weapons is absolutely unacceptable.”
Putin’s and Lavrov’s irresponsible statements on the possible use of nuclear weapons are absolutely unacceptable. Ukraine won’t give in. We call on all nuclear powers to speak out now and make it clear to Russia that such rhetorics put the world at risk and will not be tolerated.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) September 24, 2022
He also called on all nuclear powers to “make it clear publicly and firmly that such language endangers the world and will not be tolerated.”
These statements came after the Russian President issued a few days ago a warning to Western countries not to provoke his country with nuclear weapons, stressing that Moscow also possesses many weapons of mass destruction, which it will not hesitate to use if its security is threatened.
Also, former President Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Putin, issued a blunt warning last Thursday that any weapons in his country’s arsenal, including strategic nuclear ones, could be used to defend the annexed territories.
It is noteworthy that Moscow has accused the United States and the West, since the start of its military operation on Ukrainian territory, on February 24, of being parties to the conflict, especially with their continuous support for Kiev with weapons, equipment and advanced missile systems.