The world should be prepared for the possibility that Russia will target Ukraine with a nuclear strike, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
Zelensky was asked in a CNN interview about whether he was worried about recent comments by the CIA’s director, who said on Thursday that Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons in its invasion.
“Not only me – all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be the truth,” Zelensky said, briefly switching to English for emphasis.
“We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready,” he continued. “But that is not a question for Ukraine – not only for Ukraine – but for all the world, I think.”
Last month, a Kremlin spokesman said Russia would only resort to nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.
Zelensky was also asked about the sinking of Russia’s prized warship, the Moskva, but was cagey about reports that it was hit by two Ukrainian missiles.
“We know that it does not exist anymore. For us, it is a strong weapon against our country, so its sinking is not a tragedy for us.
“The less weapons the Russian Federation that has attacked our country has, the better for us.”
Russia has formally warned the US – and other allied nations – against supplying weapons to Ukraine.
The warning came in a formal diplomatic note from Moscow, a copy of which has been reviewed by media outlets in the US.
The two-page diplomatic note – forwarded to the US State Department by the Russian embassy in Washington – warns that US and Nato weapons shipments are “adding fuel” to the conflict in Ukraine, and could lead to what Russian diplomats refer to as “unpredictable consequences”.
It was sent on Tuesday, just as word of a new US military aid package for Ukraine had started to leak out. Only hours later President Biden approved the shipment of $800m of military assistance – including, for the first time, long range artillery weapons such as howitzers – with the aim of matching Russia’s military capability in Ukraine.
A senior US administration official was quoted as saying the warning could be seen as a concession by Russia that US and Nato military assistance to Ukraine was proving effective.
The first part of this latest shipment is expected to arrive in Ukraine in the next few days, as Russian forces continue to mobilise in the east of the country, ahead of what is expected to be a major assault on the disputed Donbas region of Ukraine in the next few weeks.
Since the war began the US has supplied more than $3bn in military assistance to Ukraine.
source:bbc