Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warns Third World War would be ‘nuclear and destructive’
Moscow, Mar 2: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday warned that a third World War, should it break out, will be "nuclear and devastating", amid spiralling tensions with the West over Moscow's ongoing massive military operation against Ukraine.
"A third World War would be a devastating nuclear war, Russia's longtime top diplomat said in an interview to the Al Jazeera television channel, according to state-owned TASS news agency.
Also, Lavrov stressed US President Joe Biden's remark that a third World War would be an alternative to Washington's tough sanctions against Moscow.
Lavrov said that Russia was ready for sanctions that were imposed against it but was surprised that the penalties affected athletes and journalists.
"We were ready for sanctions but did not expect that they would affect athletes, intellectuals, actors and journalists, he said, referring to the ban and sanctions by Western countries.
In his maiden State of the Union address, President Biden on Tuesday night accused his Russian counterpart of waging a "premeditated and unprovoked" war against Ukraine, asserting that "dictators" like Vladimir Putin would "pay a price" for "invading" a foreign country.
The US has joined the European Union in banning Russian flights from its airspace in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
Lavrov said the special operation against Ukraine was launched with the aim preventing Kyiv from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Qatar-based news channel reported.
"The military operation in Ukraine, including Kiev, is aimed at disarming the Ukraine. Russia will not let Ukraine obtain nuclear weapons," he was quoted as saying by the channel.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said that Kiev might revise its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum, by which Ukraine had agreed to give away nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees.
Lavrov said that Russia is ready for the second round of talks, but the Ukrainian side is delaying the the process under command from the Amercans.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lavrov said that the West should not establish military facilities on the territory of former USSR states that are not members of NATO.
In a video address to the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, he also emphasised that Moscow believes that obtaining legally binding security guarantees from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members is of paramount importance.
Russia has long resisted Ukraine's move towards the European Union and the West's defensive military alliance, NATO.
In a pre-dawn TV address on February 24, President Putin declared that Russia could not feel "safe, develop and exist" because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine.
Putin claimed that his goal was to protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the "demilitarisation and de-Nazification" of Ukraine.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
FM Sitharaman launches 'VijAIpatha' labs in govt schools in Karnataka
Hampi (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched Cyient AI Labs (CyAILS) -- 'VijAIpatha', aimed at democratising access to Artificial Intelligence, STEM and Robotics education in government schools here.
In a series of posts on 'X', the minister's office shared pictures of the initiative launched at a girl's government school in Hosapete taluk and said that under the pilot phase, five world-class AI, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Robotics laboratories are being established in government schools.
Each lab will be equipped with high-performance computers, AI-ready software, robotics kits, IoT devices, sensors and secure broadband connectivity.
ALSO READ: B'desh to hold funeral of slain youth leader amid tight security
"Aligned with NEP 2020, Digital India and Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi's mission of Viksit Bharat 2047, the programme integrates CBSE's AI curriculum and strengthens technology-enabled learning in public education," it said.
Focusing on rural and semi-urban India, the initiative introduces future technologies at the school level, helping build early digital fluency, computational thinking and innovation capacity among students, the minister's office said.
"Benefiting over 2,000 students and training more than 200 teachers, 'VijAIpatha' is a scalable CSR model fostering innovation, career readiness and grassroots digital empowerment," it added.
According to the office, the initiative has been designed as a scalable, replicable and sustainable model that can be adopted across districts and states in collaboration with government education departments, positioning it as a benchmark CSR model for a national AI education rollout.
