Newsweek’s Oct. 7 story on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s warning was based on its exclusive, written interview with him. The Russian Foreign Ministry, however, posted the actual text of Newsweek’s four questions and Lavrov’s answers, which EIR recommends Americans make the effort to read for themselves.
Two points become clear from what Newsweek did report: First, that proposals coming out of London to temporarily settle the Ukraine-Russia war through the so-called “German model” (that Ukraine give up its condition that it regain its 1991 borders in exchange for its immediate admission into NATO) are non-starters. And second, that the U.S. is heading into conflict with a nuclear power, if it continues current policy.
“Russia is open to a politico-diplomatic settlement that should remove the root causes of the crisis. It should aim to end the conflict rather than achieve a ceasefire,” Lavrov told Newsweek.
The magazine summarized Lavrov’s statement of Russia’s prerequisites as follows: Crimea and the former Russian-speaking Eastern provinces must remain as part of the Russian Federation, as they became following the 2014 and 2022 referendums (respectively). Ukraine must abandon its effort to become part of NATO “and take other steps.” Lavrov specified those “other steps” in his answer, including that “Ukraine should return to its neutral, non-bloc and non-nuclear status, protect the Russian language, and respect the rights and freedoms of its citizens.”
Newsweek poses the problem: “Kyiv and its foreign backers instead demand an unconditional Russian withdrawal, while Moscow has said an escalating conflict brings NATO closer to a direct clash with Russia, which possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.” It then quotes Lavrov’s warning:
