The Foreign Minister says that in talks with Russia it will use ‘all means’ to protect its interests

MOSCOW (AP) – A top Russian official said in an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on Friday that Moscow does not seek war with the United States but will use “all means” to protect its interests.

Sergey Lavrov argued that while Russia and the US are not officially at war, Washington’s permission for Ukraine to use US long-range missiles to strike Russian territory represents a dangerous escalation.

“It is clear that the Ukrainians cannot do what they are doing with modern long-range weapons without the direct participation of the American military. And this is dangerous, no doubt about it,” he said, adding that the Western belief that Russia’s red lines could be “moved again and again” is “a terrible mistake.”

Lavrov, the world’s longest-serving foreign minister who has served for 20 years, said Russia’s recent strike on Ukraine with a new hypersonic intermediate ballistic missile called the Oreshnik was a signal to the West that Russia was ready to go all out. means to achieve its goals in Ukraine.

“The message we wanted to send by testing this hypersonic system in real action is that we will be ready to do anything to protect our legitimate interests,” he said. “The United States, and the allies of the United States who also provide these long-range weapons to the government of Kyiv, must understand that we will be ready to use any means to prevent them from succeeding in what they call a strategic defeat in Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Nov. 21 and Oreshnik as a response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian military bases in the Bryansk and Kursk regions with Western-supplied weapons.

He announced that in the event of a new attack on Russia by Western long-range weapons, Russia could use the Oreshnik to hit the government district in Kyiv. Putin also warned that Russia could use the new missile to hit military bases of Kyiv’s Western allies that allow Ukraine to use its weapons to attack Russian territory.

Putin praised Oreshnik’s ability, saying that many warplanes that fall on a target at 10 times the speed of sound cannot be intercepted by any existing air defense systems. A Russian missile official said the missile, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has a range that would allow it to reach all of Europe.

Lavrov said Russia issued a warning to the US about the Oreshnik launch 30 minutes before it happened using an automated system used to exchange such advance notices.

He said “we hate to even think about a war with the United States, which will take a nuclear form,” but warned that any possible exchange of nuclear strikes between Russia and its NATO allies in Europe would inevitably escalate into a wider conflict in which the US would be targeted.

“Talking about a limited exchange of nuclear strikes is an invitation to disaster, which we don’t want to have,” Lavrov said.

Speaking about the Kremlin’s conditions for a possible peace deal, he also confirmed Putin’s request that Ukraine should withdraw its forces from four regions seized by Russia by September 2022 and withdraw its bid to join NATO. He added that any peace agreement must protect the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.

Asked about his opinion of Donald Trump, Lavrov described him as “a very strong person, a person who wants results, who does not like to postpone anything.”