In a Monday, Dec. 15 interview with Iran TV on the eve of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s Dec. 17 visit to Moscow, [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated:](https://sputnikglobe.com/20251215/new-us-national-security-strategy-designed-to-show-europe-its-place—lavrov-1123302005.html
“We are ready to provide assistance. I will not go into details. There are specific things there that both our Iranian friends and the Americans are aware of, and they are interested in having U.S. President Donald Trump resolve this conflict.”
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated again recently, in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach, Australia terror incident which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arbitrarily blames on Iran—and on every country that has not gone along with Netanyahu’s plan to exterminate Gaza.
Lavrov continued: “We are working with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We have channels for communicating with the U.S. administration. Europe does not want to communicate with us. They are all with delusions of grandeur. It is their choice. We do not have much to talk about with European leaders of this kind. But we are presenting our approaches to the Americans on how to normalize the current situation around the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Lavrov also urged Iran to not exit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT): “And my last remark is about whether Iran should remain within the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We firmly believe that it should.”
Lavrov elaborated on the openings for reasonable conversations with the U.S. on various topics, including arms control: “Today, there are reasonable people, including in the United States and certain countries of Europe, as well as in the structures in which both our countries [Russia and Iran] take part, such as the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization]—there are people who have been speaking out in favor of reviving the arms limitation and control frameworks, including transparency measures. Iran and Russia have been proactive in backing this approach.”
On a Ukraine settlement, he said: “The United States is trying to get to the bottom of this issue. The latest contacts with the Americans did inspire some hope that they developed a deeper understanding of our position. They are beginning to understand what needs to be done to achieve a reliable and lasting resolution for this conflict instead of having yet another truce in order to once again pump Ukraine full of weapons. This is work in progress,” Lavrov said. “We are waiting for the United States to share its feedback regarding their contacts with the Ukrainians.”
As for the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy document, he noted: “One of its major purposes is to make Europe know its place and to prevent it from imposing its liberal ways that it has been proud of and cooperated with the U.S. democratic administrations in promoting for decades; make it mind its own business and not try to engage the United States in its fairly rogue games intended to promote the liberal way that suits its elite to the political life of all other countries.”
