“If World War III Breaks out, it Wouldn’t be Contained in Europe” – Russia
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday that the US would face “much harsher” consequences for backing Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. “The impression is that our colleagues [in Washington] have discarded the remnants of common sense and believe that they can do anything,” Ryabkov said, according to TASS. The US claims it was not involved in the planning of the Kursk offensive, but it has allowed Ukraine to use US-provided armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs in the attack on Russian territory. The New York Times reported that the US and the UK have also provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other information about the Kursk region. Ryabkov said that US involvement in the Kursk offensive is an “obvious fact.” Ukraine is now pushing hard for the US to allow it to launch long-range strikes inside Russia using US-provided missiles. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov strongly warned against this potential escalation and said the US should understand that if World War III breaks out, it wouldn’t be contained in Europe. “Americans unequivocally associate conversations about Third World War as something that, God forbid, if it happens, will affect Europe exclusively,” Lavrov said.