MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. The West must realize that the words of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky about the need for preventive strikes against Russia are a call for World War III, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Alexander Venediktov said in an interview with TASS.

"Russian officials have never voiced a threat to use any weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile in Europe, some politicians openly call for such actions," he said.

As an example, he referred to Zelensky's calls for preventive strikes against Russia.

"Even a number of politicians in the EU do not conceal and do not rule out the possibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia," he added.

When asked if the Ukrainian President could make such a statement without support in the West, Venediktov replied:

"We are well aware that all actions and words of Zelensky are agreed with and often dictated by those who staged the coup in Ukraine in 2014. However, there are very serious doubts about the adequacy of Zelensky, especially when he utters such phrases."

Zelensky’s words are "not just some kind of remark, but an open call for the Third World War in which there can be no winners," Deputy Secretary of Russia’s Security Council stressed. "Therefore, it would be good for the West to realize that their protege can take on so much that Washington and Brussels will have to think about how to deal with the consequences," the deputy secretary of the Security Council concluded.

As Venediktov noted, "in the West, fewer and fewer people remember what war is, so they lose touch with reality and do not understand how dangerous such appeals are and what the consequences may be."

"For some reason, many believe that a nuclear war can be waged locally," he said.

Venediktov recalled that Washington used to have such a concept once but the Pentagon dismissed it at an early stage of the Cold War.

"We must remember: a nuclear conflict will affect absolutely the whole world - and not only Russia and the collective West, but in general any country on this planet. Its consequences will be catastrophic for all mankind," Venediktov concluded.