Russia remains “fully committed to the principle that nuclear war is unacceptable”, believes that “there can be no winners in such a conflict and consequently it should never be unleashed”. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview quoted by the Tass agency.
“It is necessary to prevent any military confrontation between nuclear powers, because it risks turning into a nuclear confrontation: the most important objective at the moment is that each nuclear power exercises maximum restraint”, stressed Lavrov. The Russian Foreign Minister then stated that “the possession of nuclear weapons in the context of deterrence is today the only possible response to some significant external threats” to Russia’s security, underlining that the “development of the situation” around Ukraine confirms the validity of Moscow’s concerns in this area. “The state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence – assured Lavrov – is exclusively defensive and aimed at maintaining the potential of nuclear forces at the minimum level necessary for the guaranteed defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity, preventing aggression against Russia and its allies”.
“The multilateral meetings on Ukraine in Jeddah and Copenhagen to which Russia was not invited show that the West has no intention of negotiating anything with Moscow,” the Russian foreign minister said. At the moment “there are no prospects for talks” on Ukraine “between Russia and the West” as “Western sponsors continue to push Kiev to up the ante,” added Lavrov. “The longer the armed clashes last, the less interest Western investors have in contributing to Ukraine’s post-war recovery and the weaker their confidence in Kiev’s success on the battlefield,” according to the Russian foreign minister. Lavrov questions whether “Kiev will be able to service its public debt. Taxpayers in Western countries – the Russian Foreign Minister then states – will have no choice but to carry the burden of unpaid debt, causing more inflation and lowering the standard of living”.
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