TEHRAN, April 26 (MNA) – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the conflict in Ukraine risked escalating into a third world war and that NATO was “in essence” engaged in a proxy war with Moscow by supplying Kyiv with weapons.

In a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television on Monday, Lavrov said the risk of a nuclear conflict must not be underestimated and that the core of any agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine would depend largely on the military situation on the ground, AlJazeera reported.

Russia, 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,” Lavrov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine after the request of the Donbas republics for military assistance.

President Putin said that the military operation was a forced measure due to the Ukrainian aggression against Donbas and the proximity of NATO forces to the Russian border.

In late 2021, Russia published its security suggestions for NATO and the US as tensions rose around Ukraine.

Moscow specifically requested guarantees that the alliance would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia and would not establish military bases in post-Soviet countries.

The proposals on security guarantees were rejected out of hand, and in response to the non-expansion of NATO, with Washington insisting it will not allow anyone to slam NATO's open-door policy shut.

RHM/PR