Russia says Zelensky’s comments on ‘pre-emptive strike’ justify its ‘special operation’ in Ukraine

(Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments suggesting NATO launch pre-emptive strikes against Russia underscored the need for what he called his “special operation” in Ukraine.

“By doing so, he basically provided the world with more evidence of the threats posed by the Kyiv regime,” Lavrov said. This is the reason for launching a special military operation to neutralize them.”

In a discussion with an Australian think tank on Thursday, Zelensky said he believed the strikes were necessary to prevent any use of nuclear weapons.

He did not go into detail about the type of strikes he intended, nor did he indicate any need for nuclear strikes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Zelensky’s comments as “a call to start another world war with unpredictable and grave consequences,” according to the RIA news agency. Read more

Russia launched its “special military operation” to disarm and “disarm” its neighbor. Ukraine and Western countries rejected this as a baseless excuse to invade.

(Reuters Report) Edited by Mark Heinrich and Nick McPhee

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