Russian Foreign Minister Warns of Growing Strategic Instability, New Nuclear Proliferation

Speaking on March 16 over video to the Moscow Non-Proliferation Conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is having disastrous consequences for the world. Lavrov said: “What is particularly cynical is that, as in June 2025, the attacks occurred at the very peak of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington over the resolution of issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. The outcome has dealt a severe blow to the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as to the credibility of diplomacy as a tool for resolving conflicts. Increasingly, countries are coming to the view that only possessing nuclear weapons can reliably guarantee protection against unlawful threats to their security—an assessment that itself carries serious proliferation risks.”