MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s top diplomat said in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Moscow does not want war with the United States but will use “all means” to defend its interests.
Sergey Lavrov argued that while Russia and the US are not officially at war, Washington’s authorization for Ukraine to use American long-range weapons against Russian territory has proved a dangerous escalation.
“It is clear that the Ukrainians would not be able to do what they are doing with modern long-range weapons without the participation of American forces. And this is dangerous, there is no doubt about it,” he said, adding that the Western belief that Russia’s red lines can be “redrawn” is a “very serious mistake.”
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Lavrov, the world’s longest-serving foreign minister for 20 years, said that Russia’s recent strike on Ukraine with a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile called the Oreshnik was a signal to the West that Russia was ready to use everything. means to achieve its goals in Ukraine.
“The message we wanted to send by trying to implement this hypersonic system is that we will be prepared to do anything to protect our legitimate interests,” he said. “The United States, and the allies of the United States who also provide these long-term weapons to the government of Kyiv, must understand that we may be ready to use any means to prevent them from succeeding in what they call a strategic defeat. Russia.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attack on Nov. 21 and Oreshnik as a response to Ukraine’s attack on Russian military facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions with Western-supplied weapons.
He said that if there is a new attack on Russia by Western long-range weapons, Russia can use Oreshnik to attack the government district in Kyiv. Putin also warned that Russia could use a new weapon to strike the military facilities of Kyiv’s Western allies which would allow Ukraine to use its weapons against Russian territory.
Putin praised the Oreshnik’s capabilities, saying that its multiple warheads dive to a target at 10 times the speed of sound without being caught by any air defenses. Russia’s military chief says the missile, which can carry conventional or nuclear weapons, has a range that would allow it to reach all of Europe.
Lavrov said that Russia had warned the US about the launch of Oreshnik 30 minutes before it happened using an automated system used to exchange such notifications.
He said that “we hate to even think about war with the United States, which takes nuclear weapons,” but he warned that any possible exchange of nuclear weapons between Russia and NATO allies in Europe will escalate into a major conflict where the US will be targeted.
“Speaking of a limited exchange of nuclear weapons is an invitation to danger, which we do not want,” Lavrov said.
Commenting on the Kremlin’s conditions for a peace deal, he reiterated Putin’s desire for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the four territories seized by Russia in September 2022 and abandon its decision to join NATO. He added that any peace agreement should protect the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine.
Asked about his opinion of Donald Trump, Lavrov described him as “a very strong person, a person who wants results, who does not want to count on anything.”