Russia and Belarus are ready to act pre-emptively over increased military escalation by European countries over Ukraine, the head of Russia's foreign spy service said Tuesday, according to state media.
“We feel and see that European countries, especially France, Great Britain and Germany, are increasing the level of escalation around the Ukrainian conflict. Therefore, we need to act preemptively. We are ready for this,” Sergei Naryshkin was quoted as saying by both the Tass and RIA news agencies.
In the event of an attack on Russia or Belarus, Russia would retaliate against NATO as a whole, but Poland and the Baltic states would suffer first, he added.
Those countries should understand that “in the event of aggression” from NATO, “damage will certainly be inflicted on the entire NATO bloc, but to a greater extent the first to suffer will be the bearers of such ideas in the political circles of Poland and the Baltic countries,” Naryshkin said.
He spoke hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it “not easy” to agree with the United States on key parts of a possible peace deal with Ukraine. “We are well aware of what a mutually beneficial deal looks like, which we have never rejected, and what a deal looks like that could lead us into another trap,” he told Russia's Kommersant newspaper.
His comments appeared to pour cold water on the optimism expressed by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy leading talks with the Kremlin, after he met with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Friday to discuss a ceasefire in the war, which entered its fourth year in February.
Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday that a peace deal was “emerging” and that he thought “we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.”
The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also warned that Putin could try to seize NATO territory if he is not stopped in Ukraine.
“If we do not stand firm, he will advance further,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with CBS News, adding that Putin's long-term objectives included restoring the Russian empire, which would include parts of NATO-allied countries. “Considering all of this, I believe it could escalate into a world war,” he said.
Ukraine held a news conference with Chinese soldiers captured on the front lines on Monday. Handcuffed and flanked by armed and masked Ukrainian soldiers, they told reporters that they had been lured to fight in the war by bloggers on TikTok and Chinese social media.
They added they wanted to participate in a prisoner swap to return home to China. It was not clear whether the statements were made under duress.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said Monday that “millions” of people had died in the war in Ukraine, which he blamed on his predecessor, Joe Biden, as well as Zelenskyy and Putin.
“Millions of people dead because of three people,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday. “Let’s say Putin, No. 1, let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and Zelenskyy.”
Russia launched one of the single deadliest attacks on Ukraine this year on Sunday, during which ballistic missiles into the northern city of Sumy on Sunday killed 35 people and injured 119 others.
“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy's request for U.S. military aid.