The United States and its European allies must not build any bases in the former Soviet Union or use those countries for military purposes, warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
Lavrov, quoted by Russian state-run news agencies RIA and TASS, said the Kremlin found it unacceptable that some European nations are hosting U.S. nuclear weapons and again said Russia is taking measures to stop Ukraine from obtaining similar weapons. He did not provide evidence for the claim.
“It is high time to bring American nuclear weapons home, and to completely eliminate the infrastructure associated with them in Europe,” he said at a U.N. video conference on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, the governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia—formerly Soviet satellite states—said they would increase military aid to Ukraine. Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said that Slovakia, which shares a small border with Ukraine, will have 1,200 NATO troops and Patriot missile defense systems deployed in his country.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last week said NATO was deploying elements of its rapid response force, which is made up of land, air, maritime and special operations forces, on allied territory.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said over the past weekend that he fears Russia could attack Poland, the Baltic states, or Finland.
“He started in Georgia, now Ukraine,” Morawiecki said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The next target could be the Baltic countries, Poland, Finland, or other countries on the eastern flank.”
Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes on Tuesday and rained rockets down on Kharkiv, as Russian commanders who have failed to achieve a quick victory shifted their tactics to intensify the bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
With an armored column miles long bearing down on the capital, Russia’s defense ministry said it was planning to strike targets in Kyiv used by Ukraine’s security service. Residents near such sites should evacuate their homes, it warned, while giving no information about where in the city of 3 million people those targets were located.
Rocket strikes on Kharkiv killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. Similar strikes had killed and wounded dozens in the city the previous day.
Reuters contributed to this report.
