VIENNA, March 9. /TASS/. The prudent behavior of NATO and the US while responding to the Russian military operation in Ukraine saves the planet from a new world war, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Wednesday following talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Vienna.

"I would like to ask for understanding that the situation in Europe is very sensitive in terms of world peace. The prudent behavior of NATO and the US is currently preventing a world war. This dimension has to be realized. Therefore, it was decided that we will resist the war by all possible peaceful means, not by military ones," Nehammer noted.

According to the Austrian chancellor, this situation requires caution so that not to drag the whole world into a war, but at the same time, it is necessary to help Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had decided to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.