Lavrov says Ukrainian attack on Russia with US missiles is a Western escalation

Lavrov says Ukrainian attack on Russia with US missiles is a Western escalation
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends the second session of the G20 Leaders’ Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, on Nov. 18, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 19 November 2024

Lavrov says Ukrainian attack on Russia with US missiles is a Western escalation

Lavrov says Ukrainian attack on Russia with US missiles is a Western escalation
  • “The fact that ATACMS were used repeatedly in the Bryansk region overnight is, of course, a signal that they want escalation,” Lavrov said
  • “Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles”

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that an attack on Russia’s Bryansk region by Ukraine using US-supplied ATACMS missiles was a clear signal that the West wanted to escalate the Ukraine conflict.
“The fact that ATACMS were used repeatedly in the Bryansk region overnight is, of course, a signal that they want escalation,” Lavrov, speaking in Rio de Janeiro, told reporters.
“Without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles, as Putin has repeatedly said,” Lavrov said.
Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such Ukrainian strikes would mean “the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine” because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six US-made ATACMS missiles into its western Bryansk region.
Lavrov said he hoped Moscow’s new nuclear doctrine, in which President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike, would be attentively read.


Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali

Updated 15 sec ago

Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali

Five Indian nationals kidnapped in Mali
The workers were kidnapped Thursday by gunmen near Kobri, in western Mali
No group has claimed the kidnappings so far

DAKAR: Gunmen have kidnapped five Indian nationals in Mali, their company and a security source said Friday, as the west African country reels from mounting unrest and militant violence.
The workers were kidnapped Thursday by gunmen near Kobri, in western Mali, the security source told AFP on condition of anonymity, saying they were employed by a company that is working on electrification projects.
“We confirm the kidnapping of five Indian nationals,” a company representative told AFP.
“The other Indians working for the company have been evacuated to Bamako,” the capital, he added.
No group has claimed the kidnappings so far.
Mali, currently ruled by a military junta, has been struggling to contain surging unrest blamed on criminal groups and militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.
The security situation has exacerbated an economic crisis in the impoverished country, where the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has imposed a suffocating fuel blockade.
Kidnappings targeting foreigners are common in the country, which has been plagued by coups and conflicts since 2012.
JNIM militants kidnapped two Emirati nationals and an Iranian near Bamako in September.
The victims were released last week for a ransom of at least $50 million, according to sources close to the negotiations.