Ukraine attacked Russia's Kursk province on August 6 and took control of part of the territory in the largest foreign attack on Russia since World War 2. President Vladimir Putin said Russia would respond accordingly.
Reuters reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West is seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine and is "causing trouble" by considering Ukraine's requests to use foreign-supplied long-range weapons to attack. attack deep into Russian territory.
President Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a much broader war involving the world's largest nuclear powers , although he has said Russia does not want conflict with the US-led NATO alliance. lead.
"Now we confirm once again that playing with fire is a very dangerous thing for countries with nuclear weapons in the West" - Mr. Lavrov told the press in Moscow on August 27.
According to Foreign Minister Lavrov, the US believes that if World War 3 occurs it will only affect Europe, but he warned that war will not be limited to Europe.
Foreign Minister Lavrov noted that Russia is "clarifying" its nuclear doctrine.
Russia's 2020 nuclear doctrine sets out when the country's president would consider using nuclear weapons: In response to an attack using nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction or usually "when the survival of the state is threatened".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month that the attack on Russia's Kursk province showed that the Kremlin's threat of retaliation was a "bluff".
Ukraine, because of restrictions imposed by its allies, cannot use the weapons it has to attack some Russian military targets. Mr. Zelensky emphasized that allies must be more bold in their decisions to help Kiev in the war.
Russia said Western weapons, including British tanks and American missile systems, were used by Ukraine in Kursk. Kiev confirmed using US HIMARS missiles to destroy bridges in Kursk.
The US said it was not informed about Ukraine's plan to launch a surprise attack on Kursk. The US also announced that it would not participate in any activities.
Russian foreign intelligence director Sergei Naryshkin said on August 27 that Moscow does not believe Western assertions that it had nothing to do with the Kursk attack. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that US participation is "an obvious fact".
The New York Times reported that the US and UK provided Ukraine with satellite images and other information about Kursk in the days after Ukraine's attack. This intelligence is intended to help Ukraine better track Russian reinforcements.
