Third World War would be 'nuclear and devastating', says Russian Foreign Minister

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "A third World War would be a devastating nuclear war" amid tensions with the West over Ukraine's invasion. 

Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday warned that a third World War, should it break out, will be "nuclear and devastating", amid spiralling tensions with the West over Moscow's ongoing massive military operation against Ukraine.

"A third World War would be a devastating nuclear war," Russia's longtime top diplomat said in an interview to the Al Jazeera television channel, according to state-owned TASS news agency.

Also, Lavrov stressed US President Joe Biden's remark that a third World War would be an alternative to Washington's tough sanctions against Moscow.

Lavrov said that Russia was ready for sanctions that were imposed against it but was surprised that the penalties affected athletes and journalists.

"We were ready for sanctions but did not expect that they would affect athletes, intellectuals, actors and journalists," he said, referring to the ban and sanctions by Western countries.