Russia's Lavrov warns of 'real' danger of Third World War

Foreign minister says Ukraine's Zelenskyy is 'pretending' to negotiate

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service / AP

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday said that peace talks with Ukraine would continue, while warning there was a "real" danger of a Third World War.

Speaking to Russian news agencies, Mr Lavrov criticised Kyiv's approach to the talks.

"Good will has its limits but if it isn't reciprocal, that doesn't help the negotiation process," he said.

"But we are continuing to engage in negotiations with the team delegated by [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, and these contacts will go on."

But Mr Lavrov accused former actor Mr Zelenskyy of pretending to negotiate.

"He's a good actor," he said. "If you watch attentively and read attentively what he says, you'll find a thousand contradictions."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits Borodyanka, near Kyiv, where Russian forces are accused of killing civilians. AFP

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Burnt-out wreckage of a tank in Kolychivka village, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. EPA

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Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of MPs in St Petersburg. EPA

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Mr Putin attends a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Moscow. Reuters

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Mr Guterres in Moscow. AFP

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Mark Milley, left, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, second left, and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the Ukraine Security Consultative Group meeting at Ramstein airbase in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. Getty Images

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. EPA

A young girl in front of people carrying a huge Ukrainian flag during a peaceful demonstration entitled 'Solidarity with Ukraine' in Krakow, Poland. Reuters

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This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian man rides in front of a destroyed building in Kharkiv which had been shelled by the Russians. EPA

A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter in a shelter with an Easter Cake near Kharkiv. Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter today. EPA

Residents receive Easter cakes and apples handed out by pro-Russian troops on Easter Day at the Svyato-Troitsky Church in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

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A military chaplain blesses Ukrainian soldiers on the occasion of Orthodox Easter not far from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv. EPA

An internally displaced man walks with dogs in the Palace of Culture, which was damaged by shelling in Rubizhne, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Tulips grow next to a building destroyed by shelling in Rubizhne. AFP

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Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP

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A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images

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A Ukrainian flag is installed on top of a gob pile in Lysychans, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian soldier rests at a checkpoint in Severodonetsk. AFP

Given the current tension, Mr Lavrov said the chances of a Third World War were genuine.

"The danger is serious, it is real, you can't underestimate it," he told the Interfax news agency.

But Mr Lavrov said he was confident that "everything will, of course, finish with the signing of an accord".

"But the parameters of this accord will be defined by the state of the fighting that will have taken place at the moment the accord becomes reality," he said.

His comments regarding the risk of a third World War were later dismissed by the UK's Armed Forces minister James Heappey, who described Mr Lavrov's position as "bravado".