Moscow is upset by Zelensky's comments about "pre-emptive strikes" by NATO
Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
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On Thursday, Moscow attacked statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he spoke of "preemptive strikes" by NATO on Russia, before Kyiv made clear that its president was talking about preventive sanctions and not nuclear strikes.
On Thursday, Zelensky spoke via video technology with the Australian Research Center "Louis Institute".
"What should NATO do? Eliminate the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. But especially, I make a new appeal to the international community, as before February 24: pre-emptive strikes so that they (the Russians) know what would be their fate if they used" nuclear weapons, the Ukrainian president said. .
"And not the other way around, (i.e.) waiting for nuclear strikes from Russia to say: 'You do, then take this from us.
NATO should reconsider how pressure is applied, reconsider how it is used."
After these statements, Zelensky's spokesman, Sergei Nikiforov, clarified that they were intended to impose preventive sanctions that could have been taken against Moscow before the February 24 attack, and not pre-emptive military strikes.
"The president talked about the pre-February 24th stage. At that time, precautionary measures should have been taken to not allow Russia to start a war. I remember that the only measures that were needed at that time were sanctions," the spokesman said on Facebook, stressing that Kyiv would "never" call for the use of nuclear weapons.
Several senior Russian officials on Thursday night criticized Zelensky's comments.
"Similar statements are nothing but a call to start a new world war with brutal and unexpected consequences," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, as quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.
He called on the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union to respond to these statements, considering that these countries are managing Kyiv's actions "de facto."
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of "fuelling a nuclear war."
"Everyone on Earth should realize that this lopsided person with a weapon (Zelensky), this puppet, has turned into a monster that can destroy the planet," she wrote on Telegram.
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