Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov granted an extensive interview yesterday to India Today TV. The transcript of his remarks are posted the Foreign Ministry website (https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1810023/) Among the points that he made, which were also summarized by RT and TASS, were the following:
• Lavrov rejected claims that Moscow could resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. When the interviewer asked flat out: “President Zelensky said that Russia plans to use tactical nuclear weapons.” Lavrov quickly replied, “He says many things. Depends on what he drinks and what he smokes. He says many things.” The interview asked a bit later, “Tactical nuclear weapons. Will Russia ever use them?” to which Lavrov replied, “Ask Mr Zelenskyy. We never mentioned this. He mentioned this. So, his intelligence must have provided him some news. I cannot comment [on] something which a not very adequate person pronounces.”
• Lavrov asserted that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine stems from the West’s desire to dominate the world. “The real reason is the complacency of most countries of the world after the end of World War II, when our Western colleagues, led by the United States, declared themselves winners and in violation of the promises to the Soviet and Russian leadership started moving NATO eastward. They kept saying: ‘Don’t worry, this is a defensive alliance, it is not a threat to Russian security.’ It was a defensive alliance when there were NATO and the Warsaw Treaty, and there was the Berlin Wall, as you remember, both physical and geopolitical. It was very clear what was the ‘line of defense’ for this ‘defensive alliance.’
