Dangerous Statements: Pentagon Chief to Lavrov

The head of the U.S. Department of Defense, Lloyd Austin, does not believe that a nuclear conflict can arise due to the situation surrounding Ukraine. He made the corresponding statement in an interview with Fox News.

“I do not believe that,” Austin said when asked whether he thinks the conflict in Ukraine could escalate to a nuclear level. “All members of the international community are doing everything to prevent that from happening. But Ukraine has the right to defend itself, and we will continue to support it,” he emphasized.

Austin also described the statements made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the likelihood of nuclear war as dangerous. “Any such rhetoric is unhelpful; no one can win a nuclear war. It is difficult to say what lies behind Lavrov's words, but we should avoid such rhetoric,” said the Pentagon chief.

It is worth recalling that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated yesterday that the risks of nuclear war are now very real, and this danger should not be underestimated, as there are many ready to artificially inflate that threat. He noted that in January, the countries of the 'nuclear quintet' reaffirmed the thesis regarding the inadmissibility of using such weapons. “This is our principled position; we start from this, and now I would not want that when... the risks are indeed very high and significant, these risks be artificially inflated. The threat is serious, real, and it cannot be underestimated,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.