Russian oligarch Deripaska calls for end of war in Ukraine

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is close to the Kremlin and has been slapped with sanctions by the West, has called for an end to the war in Ukraine.

"Peace is very important!" the multi-billionaire wrote Thursday on the messaging app Telegram. It was crazy to keep delaying negotiations for peace, he said.

The businessman, known for his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned of a nuclear threat from Ukraine. "Ukraine has long been a nuclear power," Deripaska said. The country still had 15 nuclear units and 3 storage depots for fuel rods on its territory, in addition to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged in 1986.

Deripaska warned of great dangers for Russia, Ukraine and Europe in case of a nuclear incident in the region, adding it would be doomed for the next 200 years.

Putin began his military "special operation," as he calls the war in Ukraine, last Thursday. He has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of seeking to amass nuclear weapons. Ukraine, which surrendered its nuclear arsenal after the collapse of the Soviet Union, still has the technology and expertise to create nuclear weapons, Putin warned.

The country, led by what the Russian president has called "anti-Russian nationalists," thus posed an acute threat to Moscow. Putin also justified the invasion as a way to eliminate the nuclear risk.

According to Russia, the war in Ukraine will continue until the country's military infrastructure is completely destroyed.