World War III would be 'nuclear and destructive': Russian Foreign Minister

Moscow, Mar 02: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that if a third World War were to take place, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive.

Speaking to RIA news agency, Lavrov has said that Russia, which launched what it calls a special military operation against Ukraine last week, would face a "real danger" if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.

In announcing the invasion itself, Putin pointedly referred to Russia's standing as "one of the most powerful nuclear powers in the world".

The Russian president seemed to reserve the nuclear option as a response to a "direct attack on our country". But he warned ominously that those who try "to hinder us" in Ukraine could face "consequences greater than any you have faced in history". Russia, it was feared, might also take preemptive measures.

In his broadcast to the Russian people on February 21, Putin also suggested - falsely - that the Ukrainian leadership was seeking to obtain its own nuclear arms.

Anxieties over Putin's intentions were raised further shortly after Russia's invasion was launched. Russia's nuclear forces, Putin declared on February 27, had been placed on high alert.

This, the Russian president claimed, was a response to "aggressive statements against our country" by "senior officials of leading Nato countries".