Russia’s Lavrov vows ‘full protection’ for any annexed territory – By News Agencies (Al Jazeera) / Sept 25, 2022
Ukraine says Lavrov’s comments raise the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons, condemns them as ‘totally unacceptable’.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says regions of Ukraine where widely-criticised referendums are being held will be under Moscow’s “full protection” if they are annexed, raising the prospect of the use of nuclear weapons if Kyiv tries to retake those territories.
Lavrov’s comments at a news conference in the US city of New York on Saturday came as residents of four Russian-occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine continued voting on whether to join Russia.
Moscow has described the four-day referendums that began on Friday as a vote for self-determination, but Ukraine and its Western allies view the polls as a Kremlin-orchestrated sham with a foregone conclusion.
Kyiv says many of the regions’ residents are being coerced into casting their ballots.
