MOSCOW 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call on NATO to carry out preemptive strikes against Russia is a call to start a "world war," the Kremlin’s spokesman said Thursday.

"Such statements are nothing more than a call to start another world war with unpredictable monstrous consequences,” Dmitry Peskov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, urging the international community not to remain silent over Zelenskyy’s remarks.

Peskov further claimed that the US and UK are “de facto in control of Kiev’s actions” and therefore should be held responsible for the actions and statements of Zelenskyy and his administration.

Zelenskyy’s remarks came during a video interview with the Lowy Institute in Australia.

Meanwhile, Russia summoned French ambassador Pierre Levy over the military support offered by France to Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko gave Levy fundamental assessments of the military-technical support to Ukraine by France and other Western countries, said the ministry in a statement.

The Russian side drew attention to the threats arising from the increase in supply of weapons and equipment as well as military training programs to Ukraine, the statement said.

This state of affairs contradicts France’s own interests and hampers the prospect of a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, it added.