For once, the threat of nuclear war is not coming from the Pak-India theatre, but it doesn’t mean that warnings out of the Russia-Ukraine war are any less real and dangerous. Moscow has finally drawn a line around the US and its allies providing any more lethal weapons for Kyiv, but since Washington hasn’t listened so far, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was more or less forced to dig deep and use the N-word once again. “The danger is serious, real,” he said during a TV interview on Monday. Even though the use of nuclear weapons is simply unacceptable and it ought to really worry the international community that it is being talked about so often and so openly, other aspects of the war are also cause for very serious concern. Not that any party should just watch from the side and let their allies be wiped out in front of their eyes, yet the way America and some of its allies have been arming not just the Ukrainian army but also freelancing rebels is a long-term security risk in its own right. Clearly, nobody learned any lessons from the fallout of the first Afghan war, when militias-armed to the teeth-took to the war business once the superpowers were done playing in their front yard. US interference might have slowed the Russian advance, and even cost their army very dearly, but is there really a long term plan at play here? Not very likely because in that case, the so-called sponsors of the resistance would have been a little more careful about who gets to play with the toys that they are sending to the warzone. Some right wing militias that find themselves nicely armed and promoted to the frontlines just because it suits everybody right now are bad news not just for Russia, but also for Ukraine and its neighbours since they’ve been trying to keep them quiet for a while now. Yet after this war, regardless of how it ends, they will be more powerful and dangerous than ever and even carry a badge of political legitimacy. It makes far more sense for the Americans to listen to the Russians, for once, and make sure everybody’s security concerns are addressed. It’s definitely a far better alternative than continuing with the war and arming any and everybody who raises their hands. *