Ukraine's prime minister has told the BBC there will be a "Third World War" if Ukraine loses its conflict with Russia, as he urged the US Congress to pass a long-stalled foreign aid bill. 

Denys Shmyhal expressed "careful optimism" that US lawmakers would pass the hotly contested measure, which has $61bn (£49bn) earmarked for Kyiv.

Speaking to the BBC in Washington DC, on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shmyhal said of US security assistance: "We need this money yesterday, not tomorrow, not today."

"If we will not protect, Ukraine will fall," he added. "So, the global system of security will be destroyed, and all the world will need to find a new system of security.

"Or,  there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars, and in the end of the day, it could lead to the Third World War."

This is not the first time Ukraine has issued such an alarming warning about the consequences of its potential defeat.

Last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that if Russia won the conflict, it could next invade Poland, triggering World War Three.





www.anews.az