Sergei Lavrov during the Summit of The Commonwealth of Independent States (Image: Getty)
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has delivered a chilling warning to , after Kyiv used US-made ATACMS missiles in for the first time.
Mr Lavrov said the use of the missiles in the Kursk region of was evidence that “wanted to escalate” the war.
He said the Kremlin would “react accordingly”, . Meanwhile, deputy chair of the Russian security council and long-time Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev said the move from Kyiv had signalled “World War III”.
As the conflict entered its 1000th day, fired six ATACMS missiles from an unknown location at Russian targets over the border, according to ’s Defense Ministry.
An ATACMS missile being fired during a joint US-South Korean test (Image: Getty)
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that at 00:25 GMT fired into the Bryansk Oblast. If true, this would contravene reported red lines set out by the US about where ATACMS missiles could be fired on.
According to unconfirmed reports, Washington strictly gave permission for use of the missiles in the Kursk Oblast – a region partially occupied by Ukrainian forces since August.
This comes after made a point of updating ‘s nuclear doctrine, in another thinly veiled threat to NATO powers and .
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Volodymyr Zelensky meets Joe Biden in the White House (Image: Getty)
According a report from the Russian state news agency TASS, the Kremlin said it reserves the right “to consider a nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack threatening its sovereignty, a large-scale launch of enemy aircraft, missiles, and drones targeting Russian territory, their crossing of the Russian border, and an attack on its ally Belarus.”
This change of doctrine also gives warning that any conventional missile assault by a state being supported by a nuclear power, could be met by a nuclear response.
The doctrine also stated that any attack on by state in a coalition would be considered an attack by the entire coalition.