Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region has escalated tensions “to the limit,” and former US President Donald Trump is correct to warn that the situation could spiral into “World War III,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
In a speech at the National Guard Association’s annual conference in Detroit on Monday, Trump claimed that the US has never “been closer to World War III than we are now.”
“Look at what’s going on right now with Ukraine,” he continued. “They’re surging into Russia, okay? You’re going to end up in World War III, and it’s going to be a bad one.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Peskov said that “such forays as in Kursk Region are, of course, acts that escalate tensions to the limit. Therefore there is a cause for concern, and in this case, such alarmist statements, probably… can be treated with understanding.”
Ukrainian forces invaded Kursk Region on August 6, in the largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the start of hostilities in February 2022. The advance was swiftly halted by the Russian military, but fighting in the region continues, and Ukrainian troops still hold a number of settlements in the border area.
The Ukrainian military has made heavy use of Western weapons during the incursion, and Moscow has accused the US, UK, and Poland of training some of the units that took part in the operation. Washington denies any foreknowledge of the operation, and American officials say they’re still unsure what Kiev’s objectives are.
Trump has insisted since last year that President Joe Biden’s Ukraine policy is dragging the US into a third world war, and that he would have the conflict settled “in 24 hours” if he is elected president this November. In an interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk earlier this month, he argued that Biden could have easily reached an agreement with Russia before the conflict began in 2022, but chose not to.
Trump told Musk that he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was massing troops on the Ukrainian border “to negotiate, but then Biden started saying such stupid things. For instance, he said that ‘[Ukraine] can be a NATO country.’”
“I could have stopped that, and a smart president could have stopped that. It was so bad, the words that [Biden] was using, the stupid threats coming out of his stupid face… that could lead to World War III,” he said.
Trump has claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris, who assumed the role of Democratic candidate when Biden suspended his reelection campaign last month, would continue the “endless war” started by her boss.
However, Trump did not lobby his congressional allies to block a $61 billion aid package to Kiev in April, and said at the time that he would support lending, rather than gifting, money to Ukraine in the future.