Russia demands US withdraw its nuclear weapons from Europe

On Tuesday, Russia demanded that the United States withdraw its nuclear weapons from European countries.

According to the RIA news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that “it is high time for American weapons to come home”. “It is unacceptable to Russia that some European countries host American nuclear weapons,” he added.

He also said the country is ready to work with the US on “strategic stability”.

In a recorded speech shown at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, Russia’s chancellor declared that the West should not build military installations in former Soviet republics.

Lavrov also stressed that Ukraine still has Soviet nuclear technology, and that the Russians “cannot fail to respond to this danger.”

“Ukraine still has Soviet technologies and the means of delivering such weapons,” he said. “We cannot fail to respond to this real danger,” she concluded.

He delivered the speech to a small crowd, as many diplomats, including France and the United Kingdom, staged a rally to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

They stood in a group outside the meeting during Lavrov’s speech, holding a Ukrainian flag.

Lavrov was supposed to attend the session in person, but the visit was canceled after European countries announced the closure of airspace to the Russians.

The war this Tuesday (1)

At least six people were injured, including a child, in an explosion in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said in a Telegram post on Tuesday.

The blast hit a government building, according to videos of the incident posted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and government officials. The clips were also published on Tuesday, local time, and were verified by CNN.

Russia is waging war in violation of international humanitarian law. Kills civilians, destroys civilian infrastructure. Russiaʼs main target is large cities that are now fired at by its missiles.

📍Kharkiv, Administration building pic.twitter.com/BJgyNnDp1h

— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) March 1, 2022

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kubela said “Russian missile attacks” caused the explosion. He then reinforced the call for other countries to “isolate Russia completely”.

The search for possible victims continues, according to the government.

On Monday, at least nine civilians were killed by Russian rocket attacks in Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. According to him, three children died.

“The missiles hit residential buildings, killing and injuring peaceful civilians. Kharkiv hasn’t seen this much damage in a long time. And that’s horrible,” he said. Terekhov said four people left the shelter to get water and were killed.

A family of two adults and three children were burned alive in their car, he said. Another 37 people were injured. The administration of the city of Kharkiv gave the same figures.