Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has warned there is a “real” danger of a third world war breaking out after a day of apparent Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil.
In an interview with Russian news agencies, he criticised Kyiv’s approach to peace talks, adding: “Goodwill has its limits. But if it isn’t reciprocal, that doesn’t help the negotiation process.”
Russia, Mr Lavrov said, was doing a lot to uphold the principle of striving to prevent nuclear war at all costs.
“This is our key position on which we base everything. The risks now are considerable,” he said.
“I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it.”
His comments came after a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a government building in a pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova sparked fears of Russia’s war spreading further into Europe.
The mysterious attack came on the day two fires raged at fuel facilities in the south-western city of Bryansk, in an apparent Ukrainian missile strike inside Russia.
An unexplained blaze broke out at a facility belonging to Transneft, Russia’s oil pipeline operator, at around 2am on Monday, local authorities said.
They did not at first comment on a second blaze, initially said to be at a military fuel depot but later geolocated to a military base – possibly an ammunition depot.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s equivalent of the FBI, said it was launching an inquiry but did not speculate on the cause of the blazes. However, there was immediate speculation that they were caused by Ukrainian missile strikes or sabotage teams.
