The brain-dead CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan demonstrated her lack of intelligence in her “Face the Nation” interview
with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov broadcast on April 27, in which Lavrov successfully ridiculed her various ploys to get him to reveal the internal discussions on the U.S.-Russia talks. The following are some highlights of the exchanges between the two, with quotations from Lavrov’s remarks. The interview was done April 24.
On the claim that Russia is bombing civilian sites in Kiev: “We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military. President Putin expressed this for so many times, and this is not different this time as well. We never consciously target civilian sites, unlike the Zelenskyy regime.”
On Brennan claiming Russia was refusing to accept Trump’s demand to stop bombing civilians: “President Putin immediately supported President Trump’s proposal a few weeks ago to establish a 30-day ceasefire provided we do not repeat mistakes of the last 10 years when deals were signed, and then Ukraine would violate those deals with the support and with encouragement from Biden administration and from European countries. This was the fate of the deal of February 2014. Then this was the fate of the Minsk agreements, and this was the fate of the deal reached on the basis of Ukrainian proposals in Istanbul in April 2022.”
On the ceasefire, and Trump vs. the Europeans: “If you want a ceasefire just to continue supplying arms to Ukraine, so what is your purpose? You know what [EU’s] Kaja Kallas and [NATO’s] Mark Rutte said about the ceasefire and the settlement? They bluntly stated that they can support only the deal which at the end of the day will make Ukraine stronger, would make Ukraine a victor. So if this is the purpose of the ceasefire, I don’t think this is what President Trump wants. This is what Europeans, together with Zelenskyy, want to make out of President Trump’s initiative.”
On a “deal” between Russia and the U.S.: “Well, the President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so, that we are moving in the right direction. The statement by the President mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points, elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this exact process. And the President of the United States did not spell out the elements of the deal, so it is not appropriate for me to do this.”
On Trump versus Europe, and on human rights in Ukraine: “President Trump is probably the only leader on Earth who recognized the need to address the root causes of this situation. When he said that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO, and this was a mistake by the Biden administration, and he wants to rectify this. And Marco Rubio expressed yesterday, I think, also the assessment that the American team now is getting a better understanding of the Russian position and of the root causes of this situation. One of these root causes, apart from NATO and creation of direct military threats to Russia just on our borders, another one is the rights of the national minorities in Ukraine. Everything Russian, media, education, culture, anything was prohibited by law in Ukraine. And to get out of this crisis, you cannot just forget about human rights. Whenever we discuss Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, anything, American negotiators put on top human rights. They have claims in this regard to China, to us, to anybody. But whenever Europeans and other Western nations speak about Ukraine, nobody can mumble the words human rights. Just nobody. On the contrary, what Ursula von der Leyen and other people in Brussels and in Europe say that Ukraine is defending the European values. So one of these values is cancelling the Russian language. Imagine if Israel cancelled Arabic language in Palestine. Just imagine.”
Asked if he agrees with Trump’s proposal that the U.S. and Ukraine run the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant: “No, we never received such an offer, and if we do, we would explain that the power station, Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Station, is run by the Russian Federation state corporation called Rosatom. It is under monitoring of the IAEA personnel permanently located on the site, and if not for the Ukrainian regular attempts to attack the station and to create a nuclear disaster for Europe and for Ukraine, as well, the safety requirements are fully implemented. It is in very good hands…. I don’t think any change is conceivable.”
On Trump agreeing that Crimea is part of Russia: “When Zelenskyy said that this is absolutely excluded because Crimea is part of Ukraine according to the constitution, nobody in Europe or in the [United] States, by the way, reminded him that apart from territorial issues, the Ukrainian Constitution guarantees, I quote, ‘the free development, the use and protection of the Russian and other national minorities’ language in Ukraine,’ and they guarantee the development of ethnic, cultural, language, and religious identity of all peoples and national minorities in Ukraine. This is also in the constitution, but as I mentioned already, and you decided not to go deeper into this topic, nobody in the West even mentions human rights when they demand that ‘Ukraine defeat Russia in the battlefield’…. This is a done deal. Russia does not negotiate its own territory. And President Trump understands this.”
Brennan said that, “According to U.S. intelligence, Russia is developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon, which would knock out other satellites and devastate the U.S. if it’s used…. Does Russia intend to violate past treaties and actually put a nuclear weapon in space?” Lavrov responded: “Well, before asking this question, you have to check whether this is true or not, what your military, U.S. intelligence says.… We have been promoting for many years in the United Nations a resolution prohibiting putting any nuclear weapons into outer space. The country which is categorically against it is the United States. At the same time, the United States promotes an approach according to which they want to prohibit putting conventional weapons in outer space. And they cannot answer the question, ‘Does this mean that nuclear weapons, they would be planning to move to the orbit?’”
On arms control talks: “It was the United States which broke the process of strengthening strategic stability. And if the United States is willing to get back to this track, we will see what are the conditions under which this might be possible. As long as in the U.S. doctrinal documents, we are described as adversary, when the officials in Washington called some time ago, called us enemy. So we want to understand what Washington thinks of our relationship and whether Washington is ready for, I would emphasize once again, an equal, mutually respectful dialogue heading to finding a balance of interest. If this is the approach, everything is possible.”
Brennan said, “I haven’t heard from you that Russia is willing to make any concession on anything to date.” Sergey Lavrov: “No, my brief answer is you are wrong.”
