Is World War 3 approaching? Top Russian official warns West of an all-out war if Ukraine joins NATO

Key Russian official, Alexander Venediktov has warned the West that if Ukraine joins NATO, it is guaranteed that the current war will escalate into a full-scale World War III. The deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council said, "Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to World War Three," the Russian state-owned news agency TASS quoted him as saying. As of now Ukraine seems no way close to getting a membership as all 30 members need to have a consensus regarding its inclusion.

Venediktov, who is also a close ally of President Putin, said that the NATO members themselves understand the suicidal nature of admitting Ukraine to NATO. The top official further added that in any case, Russia's position remains unchanged. "Ukraine's accession to NATO or some other alliances formed under the auspices of the United States is unacceptable for us," he noted.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had appealed to fast-track the process of NATO membership on September 30, as Russian President Vladimir Putin formally proclaimed the annexation of 18 per cent Ukraine territory. According to Venediktov, Ukraine's application for a fast-track NATO membership is "rather a propaganda move."

Russia bombed residential areas of Ukraine in reaction to what it claims as a “terrorist attack" by Ukrainian forces on the Kerch bridge, which connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula.

Keeping in view the current Russia-Ukraine war situation and several warnings from Russia of using nuclear weapons, US President Joe Biden too had warned openly that Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine might bring the world closer to "Armageddon" at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Biden said that for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world has a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if, in fact, things continue down the path they'd been going.

Also read: Indian embassy in Kyiv issues advisory for Indians in war-torn Ukraine

Also read: Biden presses the alarm button, says Putin's nuclear threat could bring risk of 'Armageddon'