<figure id="attachment_241843" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 6290px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-241843"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b8a0e36c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/04/ee0e3f889d1ef43a641cc023c36d1d16-3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-241843" class="wp-caption-text">I&#8217;m bullish everywhere. &#8230;&#8230; (Image: Reuters/Afro)</figcaption></figure>
 I must say that the risk of escalation to World War III is quite high. We should not be optimistic.&#8221;
On April 25, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warned in an interview with the state-run Channel 1 television.
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Lavrov&#8217;s words were not mere threats. The Ukrainian conflict &#8220;has a strong possibility of escalating into a world war,&#8221; said Itsuro Nakamura, a professor and expert on Russian affairs.
 Russia feels a considerable threat from the expanding power of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), an alliance of Western nations. Not only Ukraine, but also Sweden and Finland are making full-scale moves to join NATO. In order to prevent these countries from joining the West, I believe President Putin will leave no stone unturned, including the use of nuclear weapons.&#8221;
President Putin claims that the Russian population is being persecuted by &#8220;neo-Nazis. He is trying to bring Ukraine under his power by invading to protect the Russian population.
<h2>A country that would become a &#8220;second Ukraine.&#8221;</h2>
Using the same logic,&#8221; Nakamura continues, &#8220;there is a new country that has become a target.
 It is Moldova, Ukraine&#8217;s neighbor. Like Ukraine, Moldova has a large Russian population in the east and a population closer to the West in the west. The recent explosions in the east are probably the work of the Russians. I think they are using the same logic as in Ukraine to make up a story that the Russian population is under attack and are planning an invasion.
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But Russia&#8217;s aims are not working. It has abandoned its attempt to control the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, and the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the &#8220;Moscow,&#8221; has been sunk. Russia is struggling.
 Russia alone cannot compete with the Western powers. If the front line expands, Russia will ask its allies to join the war. Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan are the six signatories to the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO). It&#8217;s a military alliance with Russia as its ally.
 The CSTO includes a section on collective self-defense, the right of allied countries to defend themselves jointly if one country is attacked. It is quite possible that the CSTO countries will exercise their right to collective self-defense in response to Russia&#8217;s request. If a multinational force were to enter the war, NATO would not remain silent. The United States and European countries would intervene militarily, leading to an all-out conflict with Russia. World War III will become a reality.
On April 27, in a speech in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, &#8220;We will use all the means at our disposal to fight back.
 We have all the means to fight back. （If the West intervenes militarily (in Ukraine), we will retaliate with lightning speed.
Humanity is about to be exposed to a nuclear threat by President Putin&#8217;s outburst.

 Reuters/Afro

 The danger of the outbreak of World War III is imminent. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warns that the risk is high. President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested the use of nuclear weapons. This is a horrifying scenario of a major war that would put humanity on the brink. It is not something to be taken lightly.

Nuclear weapons could be used…Runaway Putin “Worst Case Scenario for World War III”

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