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Russia warns of WWIII after top US officials visit Kyiv

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Joshua Melvin, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A local man looks at bombs that litter a field in Ivanivka village, Chernihiv region, Ukraine on April 20, 2022. Oleg Petrasyuk, EPA-EFE" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/04/21/bombs-epa-efe.jpg"/><figcaption>A local man looks at bombs that litter a field in Ivanivka village, Chernihiv region, Ukraine on April 20, 2022. <em>Oleg Petrasyuk, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>KYIV, Ukraine - Russia on Monday warned the Ukraine conflict risked escalating into a third world war and accused Kyiv of playing at peace talks a day after visiting US officials said Ukrainian forces could beat back Moscow&#x27;s invasion.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/25/22/us-ukraine-can-beat-russia-with-right-equipment">US: Ukraine can beat Russia with &#x27;right equipment&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>The conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen weapons pour into Ukraine to help them wage war against Russian troops.</p><p>Speaking to Russian news agencies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Kyiv&#x27;s approach to floundering peace talks, saying the risk of a World War III &quot;is serious&quot;.</p><p>&quot;It is real, you can&#x27;t underestimate it.&quot;</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ieEhaEgBF1g?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>While he said talks with Kyiv would continue, Lavrov accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of &quot;pretending&quot; to negotiate, adding: &quot;You&#x27;ll find a thousand contradictions.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/04/22/22/un-documents-unlawful-killings-in-ukraine">UN documents &#x27;unlawful&#x27; killings in Ukraine</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/21/22/ukraine-bodies-found-outside-kyiv-with-signs-of-torture">Ukraine: Bodies found outside Kyiv &#x27;with signs of torture&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/21/22/russia-troops-rig-ukraine-villages-with-mines-booby-traps">Mines and booby traps: Risky return home for Ukrainians</a></li></ul><p>For months, Zelensky has been asking Ukraine&#x27;s western allies for heavy weapons -- including artillery and fighter jets -- vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with more firepower.</p><p>The calls appear to be resonating now, with a host of NATO countries pledging to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment, despite protests from Moscow.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/20/22/ukraine-receives-fighter-planes-parts-to-bolster-air-force">Ukraine receives fighter planes, parts to bolster air force: Pentagon</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The first step in winning is believing that you can win,&quot; Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin told a group of journalists after he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Zelensky in Kyiv.</p><p>&quot;We believe that we can win -- they can win -- if they have the right equipment, the right support.&quot;</p><p>The highly sensitive US trip by two of President Joe Biden&#x27;s top cabinet members came as fighting continued across Ukraine, casting a long shadow over Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.</p><div><strong>ZELENSKY HAILS RESISTANCE</strong></div><p>&quot;Thanks to the courage, the wisdom of our defenders, thanks to the courage of all Ukrainians -- our state is a true symbol of the struggle for freedom,&quot; Zelensky said in his evening address vowing victory.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eJzBg19wLTM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Following a weekend full of fighting, at least five people were killed and another 18 injured on Monday after a Russia rocket attack targeted railway infrastructure in the central Ukraine region of Vinnytsia.</p><p>On Monday, the governor of a Russian region bordering Ukraine accused Kyiv of bombing one of its villages, injuring two civilians and damaging several houses.</p><p>&quot;A village was targeted... It is already clear that there are injured civilians,&quot; Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.</p><p>Russia in recent weeks has accused Ukrainian forces of striking targets on Russian soil, including two villages in Belgorod and another in the region of Bryansk.</p><p>The governor of the Kursk region near Ukraine also said Russian forces had shot down two Ukrainian drones in the early hours of the morning.</p><p>UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced Monday that Britain would send Ukraine armored vehicles able to fire missiles against Russian warplanes.</p><p>&quot;These Stormer vehicles will give Ukraine forces enhanced short-range anti-air capabilities both day and night,&quot; he said.</p><p>The United States has been a leading donor of finance and weaponry to Ukraine, and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia.</p><p>But it had not previously sent top officials to Kyiv. Several European leaders have already travelled there to underscore their support.</p><p>&quot;Many countries are going to come forward and provide additional munitions and howitzers. So we&#x27;re going to push as hard as we can, as quickly as we can, to get them what they need,&quot; Austin said.</p><p>Blinken and Austin also said US diplomats would begin a gradual return to Ukraine this week and announced $700 million (653 million euros) in additional military aid.</p><div><strong>SUPPLY LINES HIT</strong></div><p>Forty German diplomats will meanwhile be heading home from Russia after Moscow announced their expulsion, following Berlin&#x27;s decision to kick out 40 Russian diplomats earlier this month.</p><p>From The Hague, the International Criminal Court&#x27;s chief prosecutor is to join an EU investigations team to probe &quot;alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine&quot;, officials said.</p><p>Russia&#x27;s air force targeted 82 Ukrainian military sites, including four command posts and two fuel depots, and the army fired high-precision missiles at 27 targets in their latest attacks, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday.</p><p>The Ukrainian defense ministry said Russia was continuing to hit infrastructure and supply lines bringing military assistance from Ukraine&#x27;s partners.</p><p>Ukraine&#x27;s second city Kharkiv remains partially surrounded and Moscow&#x27;s forces are regrouping in the south, but a Russian attempt to break through towards Zaporizhzhia in the east failed, the ministry added.</p><p>Russia on Monday accused Kyiv of preventing civilians trapped with Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol&#x27;s Azovstal steelworks from leaving the besieged industrial center despite a ceasefire announcement.</p><p>The defense ministry had said it would allow a civilian evacuation from Mariupol&#x27;s sprawling steel plant, which has been sheltering the remaining Ukrainian resistance in the southeastern port city.</p><p>But the Russian army on Monday evening said no one used the proposed humanitarian corridor.</p><p>A video posted by the far-right Azov Regiment, whose fighters are based in Azovstal, showed war-weary women and children sheltering in the plant&#x27;s underground bunkers, pleading for relief. </p><p>&quot;There are 600 people here. No water, no food. What are we going to do here? How long will we stay here?&quot; asked one woman. </p><p>&quot;We haven&#x27;t been out for two months now. I don&#x27;t even know what the weather is like there. It feels like it&#x27;s still February 28,&quot; said another woman.</p><p>Mariupol, which the Kremlin claims to have &quot;liberated&quot;, is pivotal to Russia&#x27;s war plans to forge a land bridge to Russian-occupied Crimea -- and possibly beyond, as far as Moldova.</p><p>burs-ds/bgs/sw</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

Russia on Monday warned the Ukraine conflict risked escalating into a third world war and accused Kyiv of playing at peace talks a day after visiting US officials said Ukrainian forces could beat back Moscow's invasion.

Russia warns of WWIII after top US officials visit Kyiv

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Russia warns of WWIII after top US officials visit Kyiv

Joshua Melvin,

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 26, 2022 07:52 AM PHT

Read More:

ukraine

ukraine crisis

russia

moscow

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kyiv

Volodymyr Zelensky

united states

Kharkiv

Azov Regiment

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