UK's James Heappey rejects Lavrov's 'bravado' over Third World War threat

Armed Forces minister says Russia has been making 'military unsound' decisions

British soldiers on manoeuvres in Estonia during Nato exercise Bold Dragon alongside Estonian, Danish and French forces. PA

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

A British defence minister dismissed a warning by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that there was a “real” danger of a Third World War as the West sends more arms to Ukraine.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said on Tuesday he did not think there was an imminent threat of escalation in the war in Ukraine, dismissing Mr Lavrov's comments as “bravado".

He was responding to comments Mr Lavrov made overnight in which he accused Nato of engaging in a proxy battle against Russia by arming Ukraine, saying this had created a serious and real risk of nuclear war.

In a marked escalation of Russian rhetoric, Mr Lavrov was asked on state television about the importance of avoiding a Third World War and whether the current situation was comparable to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

“The risks now are considerable,” Mr Lavrov said, according to the ministry's transcript of the interview.

“I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it,” Mr Lavrov said.

“Nato, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy. War means war.”

In response, during the morning media round, Mr Heappey told BBC Television: “Lavrov's trademark over the course of 15 years or so that he has been the Russian foreign secretary has been that sort of bravado. I don't think that right now there is an imminent threat of escalation".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Moscow. AP Photo

“What the West is doing to support its allies in Ukraine is very well calibrated … Everything we do is calibrated to avoid direct confrontation with Russia.”

He told Sky News: “Sergey Lavrov might also reflect that the reason there is a war in Ukraine right now is because Russia rolled over the borders of a sovereign country and started to invade their territory.

“All of this noise from Moscow about somehow their attack on Ukraine being a response to Nato aggression is just utter, utter nonsense.”

Forty countries will hold emergency talks in Germany on Tuesday on bolstering the defence of Ukraine, which the US Pentagon chief believes “can win” against Russia if given the necessary means and backing.

France is delivering Caesar cannons with a range of 40 kilometres and Britain has provided Starstreak anti-air missiles and tanks.

Germany will officially approve the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, a senior politician from one of the ruling coalition parties said on Tuesday.

Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin speaks alongside Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov during a meeting at the US Air Base in Ramstein, Germany. EPA

Johannes Vogel, of the liberal Free Democrats, confirmed a report in daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht is set to offer the weapons at Tuesday's meeting with allies at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has faced criticism at home and abroad for his government's failure to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine, has pledged anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons from German military stocks, which he described however as “defensive weapons.”

The meeting called by the US at its Ramstein airbase in south-western Germany is “focused on doing things to generate additional capability and capacity for the Ukrainian forces”, said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin following his visit to Kyiv on Sunday.

“We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support,” Mr Austin said.

The US is already the biggest supplier of international military aid to Ukraine.

Kyiv is seeking heavy artillery and tanks to repel Russian forces trying to seize complete control of its vast southern plains and the eastern region of Donbas.

The meeting is also aimed at ensuring Ukraine's security in the longer term once the war is over.

Mr Heappey said that while Nato had been reinforcing its eastern flank, it was not, as an organisation, providing military aid.

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

Children play in the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Lukashivka, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine. The village has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. EPA

A cyclist passes a destroyed building in Derhachi village, near besieged city Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. AFP

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

A Ukrainian flag flies in a park in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the city railway station earlier in April killed at least 50 people. AFP

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

Youngsters Faddei and Oleksandr play in front of a church damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region. Reuters

A demonstrator turns emotional as she attends a rally in Kyiv demanding a humanitarian corridor to rescue civilians from Mariupol. Reuters

A Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 releases decoy flares as it provides air support to Ukrainian ground forces near central city of Yampil. AFP

An officer from National Guard of Ukraine surveys weapons left behind by Russian troops in Chernobyl. AFP

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

Members of a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency carry equipment as they arrive at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian troops fire rockets from the city of Popasna, near Luhansk. EPA

Lithuanian musician Darius Mazintas plays a piano in front of the Central House of Culture destroyed during Russia's invasion, in the town of Irpin, outside Kyiv. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees Julia, second left, 32, and Miroslava, left, 11, walk away with relatives who received them after they crossed into Poland from Ukraine at the Dorohusk border. AFP

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

Smoke rises from an oil terminal hit by fire in Bryansk, Russia. AP

People take pictures by the wreckage of a Russian military vehicle, in the village of Rusaniv, Kyiv region. Reuters

Smoke rises above the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant amid fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters

People carry a large Ukrainian flag as they attend a rally to mark the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day in Milan, Italy. The day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini's troops during the Second World War. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian ballistic missile's booster stage that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine. AFP

People watch as a residential building burns after Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

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

A boy stands next to a wrecked vehicle in front of an apartment damaged during the conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

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

A woman photographs the scene of yesterday's shelling in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa. Eight people were killed, including a three-month child, and about 20 were wounded. EPA

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

Internally displaced people wait to receive food inside a factory that has been turned into a shelter, in Severodonetsk. AFP

Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry a woman, 92, to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk. AFP

Ambulance workers move an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk. AP

A woman sits inside a subway station that has been turned into a shelter, on the outskirts of second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv. AFP

Residents shelter in a subway station in Kharkiv. AFP

Anastasiya Kryvoho attends a candlelight vigil for Ukraine on the Orthodox Holy Saturday, in Toronto, Canada. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a press conference with international media in an underground metro station in Kyiv. AFP

Firefighters work at the scene of a fire after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

A family from Myrne, a town occupied by Russian forces, wait to register with police at an evacuation point for people fleeing from Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns. Getty Images

Oleksandr, 25, meets his parents Olga, 49, and Oleksandr, 50, who fled from the Russian-occupied village of Lyubimivka, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA

Residents walk near a damaged military vehicle in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol. AP

A heavily damaged apartment building in Horenka. Getty Images

Residents wrapped in blankets stand near their houses damaged by Russian shelling in Odesa. AP

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

“The donor community is not Nato,” Mr Heappey said. “The donor effort is something that has been brought together by countries that are yes, many of them are from Nato, but others are from beyond … it is not Nato that is doing the military aid.”

Moscow describes its actions a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists. Ukraine and the West say this a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression by President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Heappey said it was completely legitimate for Ukraine to strike Russian logistics lines and fuel supplies and he acknowledged the weapons the international community was now providing had the range to be used in Russia.

The minister went on to say that Mr Putin’s push to claim some kind of victory before the May 9 victory parade was causing “military unsound” decisions to be made.

He told the BBC: “The fact that he has directed that the military outcome must be secured by May 9 will mean that commanders, even though they will know from all their command and staff training it is absolute folly to launch an offensive before you’ve massed all of your combat power and that they’re giving away whatever advantage they may have won and there’s been incredibly bad weather in the Donbas over the last week or two, which means the ground is not conducive right now to the manoeuvre of heavy army, that Putin’s political pressure and the hubris that he’s shown, his desire to stand there on the steps of the Kremlin on May 9 and be a hero, means that thousands of Russian lives are going to be lost and the Russians are going to hand over the numerical advantage that they should have.”

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that Russian forces had taken the Ukrainian city of Kreminna in the Luhansk region after days of street-to-street fighting.

“The city of Kreminna has reportedly fallen and heavy fighting is reported south of Izium as Russian forces attempt to advance towards the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk from the north and east,” the British military said in a tweet. It did not say how it knew the city, 575 kilometres south-east of the capital, Kyiv, had fallen. The Ukrainian government did not immediately comment.

Mr Heappey told BBC Television: "Lavrov's trademark over the course of 15 years or so that he has been the Russian foreign secretary has been that sort of bravado. I don't think that right now there is an imminent threat of escalation". PA

About 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in the 61 days since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, according to the UK.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also told MPs on Monday that more than 2,000 of Russia’s armoured vehicles have either been destroyed or captured as he outlined further UK support for Ukraine to help defend its territory.

With Russia switching its attention to further occupying the Donbas region in the south-east, Mr Wallace confirmed a “small number” of Stormer armoured vehicles fitted with anti-air missile launchers will be given to Ukraine.

Making a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Wallace said: “It is our assessment that approximately 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive.

“Alongside the death toll are the equipment losses and in total a number of sources suggest that to date over 2,000 armoured vehicles have been destroyed or captured.

“This includes at least 530 tanks, 530 armoured personnel carriers and 560 infantry fighting vehicles.

“Russia has also lost over 60 helicopters and fighter jets.”

Mr Wallace said Ukrainian forces have been using Starstreak high-velocity and low-velocity anti-air missiles for more than three weeks.