Russia is not threatening anyone with nuclear war. This is what Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with al-Arabiya. Moreover, Moscow does not see itself at war with NATO: such a development of events would increase the risk of a nuclear conflict, which cannot be allowed, Lavrov added. “Unfortunately, however,” he noted, “there is a sense that NATO believes it is at war with Russia.” Then a warning: “The West does not expect Russia to seek forgiveness and capitulate to sanctions.” Regarding the gas issue, he specified that the majority of partners agreed to switch to the ruble payment system (ALL UPDATES LIVE).
“Moldova in NATO would no longer be safe”
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Russia, how many nuclear weapons does Moscow have and where can they hit? REPORT
The minister also stated that Russia knows the routes of NATO arms shipments to Ukraine and considers these arms a legitimate target if they reach Ukrainian territory. On Moldova’s entry into NATO, Lavrov said: More than Moscow’s “special operation,” they “have to worry about their future because they will be drawn into NATO, and I don’t think this will increase Moldova’s security.”
“Negotiations stalled over Kiev’s dishonesty”
Then also a passage on the negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on security guarantees, which, according to the minister, could progress significantly if Kyiv were an “honest” negotiator. “If they were honest negotiators, if they committed to what they agreed step by step, we could make significant progress in these negotiations and Ukraine would receive security guarantees from a number of countries – first from the five permanent members of the Security Council. United Nations plus Germany and Turkey, maybe someone else. We had nothing against it.” Moscow accuses Kyiv of having requested, contrary to the original statement, that the security guarantees – a condition for the declaration of neutrality status – also extend to Crimea and the areas of eastern Ukraine. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbass were recognized as independent by the Kremlin.