When asked whether he believed that the conflict in Ukraine may evolve into a nuclear one, he said: "I do not," TASS reported.
In his words, all members of the international community are doing their utmost to prevent this scenario, but Ukraine has the right to defend itself, and the West will continue supporting it.
Commenting on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks on the possibility of a nuclear war, Austin described them as "unhelpful."
"We've said over and over again that a nuclear war cannot be won by either side. And so I think saber rattling and rhetoric like that is just unhelpful," he said.
In his opinion, it is "hard to say" what motivated Lavrov to make comments like that, "but again, I think that kind of talk should be avoided."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (The Great Game) program on Channel One TV channel on Monday that in January, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council made a statement on the inadmissibility of a nuclear war.
"This is our principled position, we are guided by this, and of course I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant," he said, stressing that there are many who want to do this.
"The danger is serious, it is real, it should not be underestimated," Lavrov said.