YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, October 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s remark about a ‘preemptive strike on Russia’ confirms the threats coming from Kiev and the necessity of the special military operation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"Yesterday, Zelensky urged his Western overlords to deliver a preemptive nuclear strike on Russia. By doing so, this person essentially showed the entire world more evidence of the threats emanating from the Kiev regime and why the special military operation was launched to neutralize [that]," he said via a video link at a session of the United Russia party’s commission within the framework of the international inter-party forum on environmental policy and sustainable growth.

Lavrov laughed off the maneuvers by Zelensky’s various aides who sought to downplay the Ukrainian president’s comment. "We all remember how back in January he was talking about Ukraine’s aspiration to obtain nuclear weapons. Turns out, this idea is thoroughly stuck in his head," the Russian top diplomat emphasized.

"When we are talking about environmental safety, we cannot ignore those discussions that recently have been persistently escalating, about the topic of the possible use of nuclear weapons, and especially concerning this we cannot turn a blind eye to the reckless actions of the Kiev regime which are aimed at creating risks of using various kinds of weapons of mass destruction," he stressed.

Lavrov reiterated that the special military operation uncovered very alarming facts, including the presence of illegitimate military-biological programs at laboratories established by the Pentagon which involved experiments on developing forbidden chemical substances. "And, certainly, the very dangerous incessant strikes on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant continue," he added.

Earlier, Zelensky called on NATO to deliver preemptive strikes on Russia. On Thursday, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky responded to Zelensky’s comment, saying that the Ukrainian president is dragging Western countries into nuclear rhetoric and pushing the entire world to the brink of an apocalypse.