Pavel Polityuk and Oleksandr Kozhukhar

LVIV Ukraine/KYIV (Reuters). Russia cautioned the world against underestimating the risks of nuclear warfare and said that its goal was to lower them. It also warned that Western-made conventional weapons are legitimate targets in Ukraine where there have been many battles in the East.

According to transcripts of interviews on the ministry’s site, Sergei Lavrov stated that “the risks now are substantial.”

“I wouldn’t want to increase these risks artificially. This would not be the case for many. It is real and serious. We mustn’t underestimate the danger.

Lavrov was asked whether it was important to prevent World War Three. He also answered questions regarding the situation in the present, including the comparison with 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis. It is a low point for U.S.-Soviet relations.

Russia lost the “last chance to scare off the world by supporting Ukraine,” Dmytro Kuleba (NYSE:), wrote after Lavrov’s interview. Moscow is feeling defeat.

U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made promises to increase military assistance for Ukraine during a trip to Kyiv.

Moscow’s Ambassador to Washington warned the United States that Western weapons are inflaming conflict and ordered them to stop shipping.

Lavrov explained that NATO was engaged in an actual war with Russia by arming a proxy. War is always war.

The two-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused thousands to be injured or killed, left towns in ruins and forced more than 5 million to flee to Europe.

Moscow describes its actions as a “special operations” meant to dearm Ukraine and defend it against fascists. The West and Ukraine claim that this is a pretext to President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war on aggression. 

Russia is yet to seize any major cities. The Russian forces had to withdraw from Kyiv’s outskirts because of fierce resistance.

“It’s obvious that Ukraine, especially now, in the third month after our resistance began, is worried about peace and how it will end,” said President Volodymyr Zeleskiy late Monday.

There is currently no easy answer.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department used an emergency declaration in order to authorize the sale to Ukraine of $165million worth of ammunition. According to Pentagon sources, the package might include artillery ammunition that can be used with howitzers, tanks, and grenade-launchers.

According to U.S. officials, the United States will host a gathering with more than 40 nations this week in Washington for Ukraine-related defense negotiations that will be focused on strengthening Kyiv.

Britain announced that all tariffs on Ukraine’s goods will be lifted under an existing free trade agreement. It would also send funding to health specialists and new ambulances.

Putin claimed Monday that Russia’s West has failed to unite it and incited Kyiv, accusing Kyiv of plotting attacks against Russian journalists.

KYIV: NORMAL LIFE RETURNING

Only weeks ago, Kyiv’s capital was under bombardment and curfew, and had tens to thousands of troops on its northern fringes. Residents also sheltered from artillery at its metro stations.

Today’s Russian soldiers can be found hundreds of miles away. However, normal life in the capital is returning to its former glory, as Western diplomats return and leaders visit.

Blinken indicated that U.S. diplomatic personnel would be first to Lviv’s western region and then should return to Kyiv within a few weeks. Bridget Brink (current U.S. Ambassador in Slovakia) will serve as the ambassador.

Yet, conflict continues in Ukraine’s south and east. Russia launched last week a major offensive.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that its missiles had destroyed six railway stations used for delivering foreign weapons to Ukrainian troops in the eastern Donbas. Reuters was unable to verify the report.

According to Oleksiy Arestovych, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, Russian forces continued on Monday to bombard and shell Mariupol’s Azovstal steel mill. Fighters have been hunkered down there after being ravaged by siege and bombardment.

Moscow claimed it would open a humanitarian corridor for civilians to escape the plant, but Kyiv stated that no such agreement was reached and asked the United Nations to help him as an “initiator” and “guarantor”.

Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that Ukraine had undermined the evacuation efforts, and that nobody was leaving the steel works through the humanitarian corridors.

Russia’s U.N. deputy Dmitry Polyanskiy (Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador) told reporters that a ceasefire wasn’t an option. It would only permit the Ukrainian forces regroup. But it wasn’t his decision.

The general staff of Ukraine also claimed that Russians had shelled Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, as well as the towns and villages to its south. However, they said that the assaults on three other settlements were defeated.