Zelensky preemptive strike talk cannot be ignored: Moscow

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Russia cannot ignore the statements made by Volodymyr Zelensky and wants to bring this to the attention of the leaders of other countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Peskov also highlighted how Zelensky was calling on the world's leading powers and nuclear states to participate in his endeavor and launch a nuclear strike on Russia.

"Of course, we cannot ignore it, and we mainly urge the leaders of other states not to ignore it either, because, from the point of view of symptoms, these are very dangerous statements, very dangerous," the Kremlin's spokesperson underlined.

That is, in fact, the head of Ukraine calls on the leading states of the world, the countries of the nuclear club, to launch a preemptive strike on our country, on the Russian Federation," Peskov told Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1.

"This is an absolutely blatant statement, which probably speaks of the morale of the president of Ukraine," he added, criticizing Zelensky as fraught with very dangerous, irreparable mistakes that underline "the correctness of our president when he made the decision to conduct the special military operation."

Peskov also went for the Ukrainian president's allies, saying no one even made an attempt to "rein" him in following his statement about a preemptive strike on Russia. "There were only timid attempts to condemn the tone of his statements."

When I first read about that, I thought it was a hoax or taken out of context, but no, that's exactly what he's saying. Calling for a nuclear first strike against Russia. https://t.co/0D0XNuvonX pic.twitter.com/6HabXXTGyh

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) October 6, 2022

"We heard [attempts to condemn Zelensky] at the United Nations and so on. But to our regret, let's say: it didn't occur to anyone to rein in their vassal. This is very dangerous," he added.

Zelensky expressed on Thursday that NATO and the entire international community should reconsider how to respond to Russia's possible use of nuclear weapons and provide for preemptive strikes.

In an initial response, the Kremlin spokesperson said that "all countries of the world should pay attention to" such a statement, emphasizing that the US and UK, which direct Kiev's actions, are the first two; therefore, they should be held liable for Zelensky's statements.

The table was the other way around in September, with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying the White House warned Russia that there would be "catastrophic consequences" if the latter uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Sullivan's words came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly that any territory recognized by the Russian constitution as Russian territory falls under Moscow's full protection.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said earlier that the United States is incapable of holding negotiations, and it is joining forces with its allies to push Kiev to move against Russia and its territories in an attempt to defeat Moscow.

Ryabkov said the US deliberately lowered the nuclear threshold, thus, posing threat to Russia's nuclear security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had also accused the west of using the threat of nuclear weapons to blackmail Russia and warned that Moscow will use all means in case its territorial integrity is threatened.