The world's media comment on Sergey Lavrov's interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson. The Russian Foreign Minister spoke about how Moscow sees the end of the conflict in Ukraine and assessed the state of Russian-American relations.
Lavrov warned that Moscow is ready to use any means to achieve its goals, despite opposition from the West, writes the Independent :
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country would be "ready to use any means" so that Moscow would not suffer a "strategic defeat" in the war against Ukraine.
He made this comment during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, which was published when the Russian minister arrived in Malta to participate in [a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member countries] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This was his first visit to an EU state after the outbreak of a full-scale conflict in Ukraine in 2022.
In an 80-minute interview, Lavrov said that the West should abandon the idea that Russia has no "red lines" and outlined the conditions for peace in Ukraine."
The Russian Foreign Minister had the opportunity to say a lot during the interview, Der Spiegel notes:
"Tucker's propaganda gifts to Russia: The Russian Foreign Minister, in an interview with Trump's confidant Tucker Carlson, was able to say a lot. For example, that they want to live in peace with their neighbors. And why it was necessary to send a signal in Ukraine with the help of new weapons."
Lavrov said that Russia has a response to attempts by Western countries to continue the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, writes Le Figaro :
"Russia will be ready to use 'any means' for self-defense," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview in Moscow, in particular, referring to the use of a new Oreshnik missile at an object in Ukraine at the end of November.
"The message is that the United States and its allies, who supply long—range weapons to the Kiev regime, must understand that we will be ready to use any means to prevent the West from succeeding in inflicting a "strategic defeat" on us," he told American columnist and TV presenter Tucker Carlson.
According to the Russian authorities, this missile launch was a response to Kiev's attacks on Russia using American and British missiles.
The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out that during the Ukrainian conflict, the West is trying to assert its own hegemony, while Moscow defends the legitimate interests of its security, The Hindu notes:
"Westerners are fighting to maintain their hegemony in the world, in any country, region, on any continent. We are fighting for our legitimate security interests," he said.
Speaking in English, Lavrov said that the West refused to discuss maintaining security guarantees for Russia for weeks and months before the start of the full-scale conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, which Moscow calls a special military operation.
Lavrov added that Ukraine had lost the opportunity to preserve its territorial integrity by rejecting proposals for an agreement twice: once before the start of a full-scale conflict, and then during negotiations in April 2022 in Turkey.
"We did not start this war. For many years, we have warned that NATO's approach to our borders would create a problem," he said.
Lavrov clarified some details of a possible future peace agreement on Ukraine, L'Express reports:
"Warning that Moscow is ready for any surprises, Lavrov at the same time said that Russia prefers a peaceful negotiated solution based on respect for its legitimate interests.
Speaking about what such a peace agreement might look like, the minister clarified that Kiev should, among other things, recognize Russia's control over Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions.
According to him, "they are already part of Russia according to our Constitution. This is reality."
Lavrov also commented on Trump's rise to power, describing the president-elect as "a strong man who wants to achieve results, who does not like to postpone things for later."
Carlson said that the purpose of his conversation with Lavrov was to try to understand how events would develop after the transition of power in the United States to President-elect Trump, notes com/news/articles/2024-12-04/trump-ally-carlson-in-moscow-interviews-lavrov-on-war-in-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Bloomberg :
In a video posted on Platform X, Carlson said he met with Lavrov to find out if Trump's election would "mean the end of this war." He also said he would like to understand "whether Russia and the United States are moving towards an unprecedented conflict" after the administration of President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use American long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
"Most Americans don't know that we are in a state of hot war with Russia, an undeclared war," Carlson said. "We are closer to nuclear war than at any time in history."
Trump, who has long been skeptical of continued U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, promised to end the war even before he takes office in January."
