Lavrov Slams US, NATO Policies in Fiery Speech

MOSCOW – Russia’s foreign minister has said that his country will pursue the goals of its military operation even after a peace agreement with Ukraine.

Speaking on television in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov said that the military infrastructure of Ukraine that is a constant threat to Russia must be destroyed.

“Demilitarization — in the sense of destroying the military infrastructure that threatens us — will be brought to an end, even if we sign a peace agreement. It will necessarily have to include such a clause.”

He said that another goal, “denazification — the fight against the Nazi ideology of the Third Reich –” will be continued as well.

Lavrov called the laws signed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “Nazist” as they exclude Russians from the country’s indigenous people and prohibit the use of the Russian language in the country.

He added that special forces of Ukraine commit loot and plunder among civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Lavrov clarified that decisions about who should live in Ukraine and who should lead it should be made by the Ukrainian people themselves.

“The real murderers are fighting on the side of the Kyiv regime,” the minister blasted.

He then added a parallel with Crimea which was invaded by Russia in 2013, saying that in Crimea under Russian rule, the Ukrainian language still had a status of a state language.

Lavrov accused Western countries of stoking the flames and bringing up the idea of a nuclear war, referring to NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s threat to move nuclear weapons closer to the Russian borders and the French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian’s reminder that France had nuclear weapons. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy had also expressed a desire to turn the country into a nuclear state.

“It is clear to everyone that World War III can only be nuclear. But I draw your attention that the nuclear war is swirling in the heads of the Western politicians, not Russians.

“I reassure you that we will not allow this provocation to force us out of balance. But if a real war is unleashed against us, those who are hatching such plans should keep it in mind (that World War III can only be nuclear),” he said.

Russia’s military doctrine contains conditions of using nuclear weapons: in response to use of nuclear or arms of mass destruction against the country or its allies, in case of aggression with the use of conventional arms if it puts in doubt the country’s existence, in case of use of ballistic missiles against Russia or its allies, and in case of an attack on critical state and military objects in the country, destruction of which will lead to the automatic launch of nuclear weapons.

Lavrov also added that Pentagon constructed two military biological labs in Ukraine, one in Kyiv and another in the city of Odessa, and now fears losing control of them.

Lavrov called sanctions “a tax on independence,” adding that despite the international pressure Russia will not allow any threats to its existence.

He explained that the West attacks Russia not because it poses a threat to its security but to prevent Russia from pursuing an independent policy.

He also accused American leaders of bypassing public interest to inflict damage on Russia.

“Their brains are sharpened only for one thing: to punish Russia in a maximum way,” he stressed.

Sanctions will have a negative effect on Russia’s economy, social sphere, but these problems will be tackled, he reassured.

Lavrov argued that Russia defends its core interest in Ukraine while NATO has nothing to do there.

The minister accused that NATO continues growing while no one ever attacked it. Turning Ukraine into anti-Russia and uniting NATO’s allies to oppose Russia is part of a big geopolitical game, he said.

Lavrov also quoted one of the US politicians who promoted an approach of “Russia without Ukraine is not a superpower” and so “it is necessary to use Ukraine in every possible way to undermine Russian interests, Russian influence, and Russian culture, including the collapse of Orthodox Church.”

“Both Napoleon and Hitler set the task of subduing Europe. Now it has been subdued by the Americans,” he added, saying it is the same approach that the US is practicing in the UN — forcing countries by threats and blackmail to vote as the Americans wish.

“They directly say to all countries without exception: ‘There will be a vote, you are obliged to vote as we say.’ They remind foreign politicians that they have accounts in the West, their children study at universities in Western countries.”

Lavrov also said the US represents the picture of the world as a Hollywood film, divided into absolute good and absolute evil, and Washington plays a role of a good guy who, on its way to the goal, is allowed to do anything and everything.