Ukraine crisis would never become nuclear war: Russian minister

London: The conflict in Ukraine will never evolve into a nuclear war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. However, he warned the United States and Europe that Moscow no longer wished to be dependent on the West, Reuters reported.

He was responding to Russia's Kommersant newspaper's question of whether he thinks a nuclear war would trigger off.

Lavrov said that the element of the nuclear theme was thrown into the speculation pool by the West. "Of course it gives us cause for concern when the West, like Freud, keeps on returning and returning to this topic," Lavrov said

He scoffed off at the talks about an impending Russian attack on former Soviet Baltic states, namely Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, saying such talks are old hoaxes. The three states have acquired membership of the European Union and NATO.

Russia is facing the gravest of sanctions, and its economy is in the greatest crisis since 1991, after Soviet Union's fall. The West has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia's financial and corporate system after Moscow initiated its draconian advancement into Ukraine.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered its nuclear forces to be on alert on February 27, after the sanctions and aggressive remarks by NATO's leading members. Moscow also said about a possible encounter between NATO and Russia.

Now that the West has slapped crippling sanctions on Russia, Lavrov said Russia was turning away from the West and would cope with the economic consequences.

Lavrov said that Russia was turning away from the West and would cope with economic consequences. "We'll emerge from this crisis with a revitalised psychology and conscience: We won't have any illusions that the West can be a reliable partner," he said.

Regarding the energy sanctions imposed on it by the US, Lavrov said that they would not try and convince any purchaser to buy its energy. It said that Russia has markets for its oil and gas, referring to China.