Moscow (AP) In a Friday interview with Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News personality, Russia’s top diplomat stated that Moscow will do whatever it takes to protect its interests and does not seek a conflict with the United States.
Although Russia and the United States are not formally at war, Sergey Lavrov contended that Washington’s approval of Ukraine’s use of American longer-range missiles for attacks on Russian territory constituted a risky escalation.
Without the direct involvement of American service members, it is clear that the Ukrainians could not accomplish what they are doing with long-range contemporary weapons. And there is no question that this is hazardous,” he added, adding that it is a grave error on the part of the West to think that Russia’s red lines could be shifted repeatedly.
According to Lavrov, the longest-serving foreign minister in history, who has been in office for 20 years, Russia’s recent attack on Ukraine using the Oreshnik, a new hypersonic intermediate range ballistic missile, sent a message to the West that it is willing to do whatever it takes to further its objectives in Ukraine.
By putting this hypersonic technology through real-world testing, we hoped to convey the message that we would stop at nothing to protect our legitimate interests, he said. The United States and its allies, who also supply the Kiev dictatorship with these long-range weaponry, ought to realize that we will stop at nothing to prevent them from achieving what they refer to as a strategic defeat of Russia.
The Nov. 21 attack with Oreshnik was characterized by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a reaction to Ukrainian strikes on Russian military installations in the Bryansk and Kursk regions using weaponry supplied by the West.
He has stated that Russia could utilize Oreshnik to strike the Kyiv government district in the event of fresh attacks using Western longer-range weapons. Putin also issued a warning, saying that Russia might use the new missile to attack Kyiv’s Western partners’ military installations that enable Ukraine to utilize its armaments to attack Russian territory.
Putin praised Oreshnik’s capacity, claiming that no air defense system now in place could intercept its numerous warheads that plunge to a target at ten times the speed of sound. According to the commander of Russia’s missile forces, the missile has a range that enables it to reach any country in Europe and can carry either conventional or nuclear weapons.
According to Lavrov, Russia employed an automatic system for exchanging such advance notices to warn the United States of the Oreshnik launch 30 minutes before it took place.
Although he acknowledged that we detest the idea of going to war with the United States, which would be nuclear in nature, he issued a warning that any possible nuclear attack exchange between Russia and its European NATO allies would unavoidably turn into a larger fight that would target the United States.
Lavrov stated that discussing a limited exchange of nuclear attacks is an invitation to tragedy, which is something we do not want to happen.
He reiterated Putin’s demand that Ukraine withdraw its military from the four areas that Russia annexed in September 2022 and abandon its bid to join NATO as part of the Kremlin’s requirements for a possible peace agreement. He went on to say that the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine must be protected in any peace deal.
When asked about his opinion of Donald Trump, Lavrov said he was a strong individual who is driven to achieve his goals. Who doesn’t enjoy putting things off?
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