Fears are increasing about the outbreak of a large-scale global war, after sharp Russian statements warning of the consequences of the West’s support for Ukraine.

Russia said that the West was "playing with fire" by considering allowing Ukraine to strike territory inside Russia with Western missiles, and the United States warned on Tuesday of the outbreak of a third world war that would not be limited to Europe.

Ukraine attacked the Kursk region in western Russia on August 6 and seized an area there in the largest external attack on Russia since World War II. President Vladimir Putin said that Russia's response would be significant.

According to Sergei Lavrov, who has been Russia's foreign minister for more than 20 years, the West is seeking to escalate the war in Ukraine and is "looking for trouble" by considering Ukrainian requests to ease restrictions on the use of imported weapons.

Since the Ukraine war in 2022, Putin has repeatedly warned of the risk of a broader war involving the world's major nuclear powers. But he says that Russia does not want a conflict with the US-led NATO.

Lavrov told reporters in Moscow, “We now confirm once again that playing with fire, like small children playing with matches, is a very dangerous thing for (adults) who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one Western country or another.”

Lavrov added, "The Americans unequivocally link talks about a third world war as something that, if it happens, God forbid, will affect Europe exclusively."

He said that Russia's nuclear doctrine is clear.

The 2020 Russian nuclear doctrine outlines situations in which the Russian president would consider using a nuclear weapon. This is generally in response to an attack with nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, or conventional weapons “when the very existence of the state is threatened.”

Russia's response

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month that the attack on Russia's Kursk region showed that the Kremlin's threats to respond were a hoax.

He added that Ukraine, due to the restrictions imposed by the allies, cannot use the weapons at its disposal to strike some Russian military targets. He urged the Allies to be more bold in their decisions on how to help Kiev in the war.

Russia says that Ukraine is using weapons supplied by the West in Kursk, including tanks from Britain and American missile systems. Kiev confirmed the use of American HIMAR missiles to destroy bridges in Kursk.

Washington says it was not aware of Ukraine's plans before the surprise incursion into Kursk. The United States also said that it did not participate in the operation in any way.

The head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said on Tuesday that Moscow does not believe the West's assertions that it has nothing to do with the attack on Kursk. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that US involvement is a "clear fact."

The New York Times said that the United States and Britain provided Ukraine with satellite images and other information about the Kursk region in the days following the Ukrainian attack.

The newspaper added that the intelligence information aimed to help Ukraine better track Russian reinforcements.