A nuclear confrontation is a clear and present danger, and much on the mind of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Yesterday, speaking at an education program called “Dialogue in the Name of the Future,” Lavrov pointed out that it was not that long ago when the United States and Russia, along with other permanent members of the UN Security Council, reaffirmed their commitment that there could be no winners in a nuclear war, and that it should never be unleashed. However, he went further: “Russia’s position goes further than that: in addition to recognizing such a war as unacceptable, it is important to avoid military clashes between nuclear powers, even with the use of conventional weapons. Escalation can easily spiral out of control. Our Western colleagues are trying to ignore this part of the formula. This speaks volumes about their true motives, including in the context of their policy on Ukraine, which they are literally pushing to continue a war that is being waged by the West against the Russian Federation.” (https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1841063/ )
At today’s press conference, Lavrov returned to the theme. When he was asked about the possibility of the U.S. and Russia making joint efforts to reduce strategic capabilities, he first noted that it was the U.S. that effectively froze bilateral talks on strategic weapons in September 2021 (months before the Russian military action into Ukraine). Regardless, that doesn’t change the reality of Washington’s and Moscow’s responsibilities as the two largest nuclear powers in the world. He then repeated his point about not only avoiding nuclear conflict, but avoiding any military clash between Russia and the U.S. and/or NATO.