Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared on Tuesday that Ukraine's recent demands for Western countries to allow strikes deep into Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons amount to blackmail.
Adjusting Nuclear Doctrine
According to Ziare Lavrov emphasized that such requests from Ukraine are not only provocative but also represent a dangerous escalation in the ongoing conflict.
Lavrov further stated that Russia is actively "adjusting" its nuclear doctrine in response to these developments, signaling potential changes in how the country might deploy its nuclear capabilities.
He warned that Western nuclear powers are "playing with fire" by supporting Ukraine's military ambitions, suggesting that the current situation could have grave consequences.
An All Time Low
In a separate statement, Lavrov addressed the strained relations between Russia and France, describing them as being at their "lowest point" following the recent arrest of Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, at a Paris airport.
Durov, who was born in Russia but also holds French citizenship, was detained as part of an investigation by French authorities into various criminal activities, including child sexual abuse imagery, drug trafficking, and fraudulent transactions on the Telegram messaging platform.
The Kremlin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, commented on the charges against Durov, calling them "very serious" and expressing concern that, if not substantiated with significant evidence, they would be viewed in Russia as an attempt to curb freedom of communication.
