Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference following talks with Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Moscow, Russia February 21, 2022. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Russian foreign minister says Ukraine has been seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran PressEurope: His remarks came as the Russian operation in Ukraine continues into the sixth day.

The Russian special operation in Ukraine began on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to enter Ukraine, following months of a heavy military build-up on the border.

Putin says he had no other choice than to launch the military operation to stop the Ukrainian military’s interference in two eastern republics that have broken away from Ukraine. Russia perceives NATO’s eastward expansion as a threat.

Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a Geneva disarmament meeting on Tuesday that Kyiv has been seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, calling this a real danger that it needed to prevent.

"Ukraine still has Soviet technologies and the means of delivery of such weapons," Lavrov told the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament in a pre-recorded address. "We cannot fail to respond to this real danger."

At the same meeting, Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russia of war crimes, which Russia denies.

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