War in Ukraine: Moscow warns of a risk of "uncontrollable escalation"
This warning comes as the Russian army faces a vast Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Here in the Donetsk region, Sunday, October 23.
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke on the phone on Sunday with his American, French, British and Turkish counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.
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Never since the beginning of the
Russian offensive in Ukraine at
the end of February, the Russian Minister of Defense had not had so many exchanges with his counterparts in a single day.
Sergei Shoigu expressed his fears to his Turkish and French counterparts and denounced the situation in Ukraine "
which has a tendency to escalate uncontrollably
", according to the press release from the Russian army.
He also expressed "
his concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a 'dirty bomb'
", added the same source.
The Russian minister made the same remarks to the British Minister of Defense, in a rare telephone conversation between London and Moscow.
Ben Wallace, the British minister, has "
refuted
" Russian claims that Western countries were facilitating an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
Information impossible to verify
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, confirmed for his part in a press release that the Russian fear of a "
strike of a 'dirty bomb' by the Ukrainians on their territory, to blame it on the Russia
”.
Credible sources in the eyes of Russian news agencies indeed warn that kyiv could detonate such a device on its territory to accuse Moscow of using weapons of mass destruction within the framework of its military campaign.
For its part, Ukraine has denied the accusations by the Russian forces, calling them "
dangerous
" and "
absurd
".
►
To read also: Ukraine: the undertones of the nuclear threat wielded by Russia
Sergei Shoigu also spoke with Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon.
It is their second conversation since Friday and their third since the beginning of the conflict.
This time, the Russian statement reporting on the interview did not mention the alleged use of a "dirty bomb" by the Ukrainians.
These discussions come as Russia faces a large Ukrainian counter-offensive and denounces a “
significant increase
” in Ukrainian fire on several Russian border regions.
(
With
AFP)
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