Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggesting NATO should launch preventive strikes on Russia “confirmed the need” for what it calls its “special operation” in Ukraine.

In a discussion with the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, Zelenskiy said he believed strikes were necessary to preclude any use of nuclear weapons.

Five killed by Ukrainian strike on bus in Kherson region

He did not go into detail about what kind of strikes he meant, and made no reference to any need for nuclear strikes.