Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has touched a sensitive nerve with his call for “preventive strikes” – and not just in Moscow. While the Kremlin spoke of a call to start the “Third World War”, Kyiv assured that Zelenskyi had been misunderstood during his video appearance in front of Australian opinion makers on Thursday. US President Joe Biden sees the threat of a nuclear confrontation after threats from the Kremlin as greater than it has been in 60 years. Friday is day 226 in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Zelenskyj: NATO must prevent Russian use of nuclear weapons
According to Zelenskyj, NATO must prevent the possibility of a Russian use of nuclear weapons – if necessary with pre-emptive strikes. Zelenskyj emphasized the importance of preventive measures during an appearance in front of the Lowy Institute on Thursday. NATO “must eliminate the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. But it is important – and that is why I am turning to the international community, as I did before February 24 – that these are preventive strikes, so that they know what is in store for them if they use them.” He emphasized: “Not the other way around: wait for strikes from Russia, and then to say: “Oh, you’re getting me like that, then you’ll get it from us now”.
Selenskyj’s spokesman Serhij Nykyforow immediately emphasized that his demand had been misunderstood. The Ukrainian President said only that before February 24 – the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine – preventive measures were needed to prevent the war.
In his speech, the Ukrainian President refused to cede territory to Russia in order to appease Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and achieve peace. The aggressor should not be rewarded for starting the war, but must be defeated. According to the 44-year-old, Putin will not survive a nuclear attack on Ukraine.
Kremlin: Zelenskyj calls for the start of World War III
The Kremlin has sharply condemned Zelenskyy’s statements to NATO about possible pre-emptive strikes against Russia. “Zelensky’s statements are nothing more than a call to start World War III with unforeseeable terrible consequences,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. The Russian Foreign Ministry also heavily criticized Zelenskyj’s statements.
According to Peskov, the United States and Britain are directing Kiev’s actions. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that the West was initiating a nuclear war. “Every person on the planet needs to realize that the weapon-filled and unstable puppet Zelenskyy has turned into a monster with hands that can destroy the entire planet,” she said.
Biden: Closer to “Armageddon” than since the Cuban Missile Crisis
US President Biden sees the risk of a nuclear confrontation with catastrophic consequences after threats from the Kremlin as greater than it has been in 60 years. The world has not faced the prospect of “Armageddon” since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Biden said on Thursday (local time), according to journalists traveling with him at a performance in New York. He knows Putin pretty well, according to Biden. The Kremlin chief does not joke when he talks about the potential use of tactical nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as the Russian military is weak in the fighting in Ukraine.
