PEACE negotiations between the UN Secretary General and Vladimir Putin in Russia yesterday fell down as Moscow warned that a Third World War is now a serious possibility.

 Antonio Guterres held candid talks with the president just hours after Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that there was a “considerable” possibility of the Ukraine conflict developing to nuclear weapons on a global scale.

Lavrov accused Nato soldiers of “pouring oil on the fire” by arming Kyiv, accusing them of engaging in a proxy conflict with Russia.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “Nobody wants a nuclear war, no one can win that.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated Lavrov’s heated remarks were simply an attempt to “scare the world off supporting Ukraine.”

 And Britain’s Armed Forces Minister, James Heappey, emphasised that Nato as an organisation was not donating armaments to Ukraine.

He added: “Sergey Lavrov might also reflect that the reason there is a war in Ukraine right now is because Russia rolled over the borders of a sovereign country and started to invade their territory.”

Earlier, Lavrov was asked about the necessity of averting further bloodshed and whether the dispute was equivalent to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the United States and the Soviet Union were on the verge of nuclear war.

He replied: “The risks now are considerable.The danger is serious, real. We must not underestimate it.” Mr Guterres urged Lavrov to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Stressing he was in Moscow as a messenger of peace, the UN chief said he understood Russia had “many grievances” but added that Russian troops were in Ukraine and not vice versa.

He said: “The sooner peace is established, the better – for the sake of Ukraine, Russia, and for the world,” he told a press conference in Moscow.

Lavrov claimed that the West’s meddling in its neighbour had been used to constrain, control, and provoke Russia.

 He also blamed the violence on the West’s “infringement” of Russia’s “geopolitical space,” which he claimed had diminished Moscow’s influence in Ukraine.

 And Putin’s right-hand man reiterated the Kremlin’s illogical assertion that citizens of Donbas needed to be liberated from “Nazis.”

Mr. Guterres’ conversations with Putin were then held privately a few hours later. Their contents were not made available to the public. However, it is understood that the conversations focused not only on de-escalation and the possibility of a ceasefire, but also on the destiny of besieged Mariupol.

Despite declaring victory, Russian soldiers have been unable to overrun the massive steelworks where civilians are sheltering, and local forces have held out.

Russia, according to Ukraine’s military, is still blockingading the plant.

Ukraine has asked Mr. Guterres to ensure a humanitarian corridor to rescue residents who have taken refuge inside Azovstal.

According to Mr. Guterres, the organisation is “ready to fully mobilise its human and logistical resources”.

He added that “thousands of civilians are in dire need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance” in the port city where “large parts have been destroyed”.

Mr. Guterres also advocated collaborating with the Red Cross to help those trapped within the Azovstal complex to flee.

The UN Secretary-General is now scheduled to visit Kyiv tomorrow and meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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