Full version of Sergey Lavrov’s interview with journalist Tucker Carlson.

Sergey Lavrov’s main statements:

On relations with the United States

📍”Officially, we are not at war. Some call what is happening in Ukraine a hybrid war. I would call it that too.”

📍”This is not what we want. Of course, we would like to have normal relations with all our neighbors. In general, with all countries, especially with such a great country as the United States.”

📍Russia and the United States have closed communication channels, but they are mainly used to discuss prisoner exchanges. As for Ukraine, the Americans confidentially convey “the same things they talk about publicly.”

On the threat of nuclear war

📍”We are not thinking about a war with the United States that could be nuclear in nature. Our military doctrine states that the most important thing is to avoid a nuclear war.”

📍Statements coming from the West about the possibility of a limited exchange of nuclear strikes are alarming: “This is an invitation to a catastrophe that we do not want.”

On “Oreshnik”

📍”The message that we wanted to convey by testing this hypersonic system in real conditions is that we will be ready to do everything to protect our legitimate interests.”

📍In Russia, “we would like to avoid misunderstandings,” but are ready to “send additional “messages.”

📍”We do not want to aggravate the situation. But since ATACMS and other long-range weapons are used on Russian territory, we are sending signals.”

📍Moscow automatically notified Washington about the launch of the Oreshnik missile half an hour in advance: “They knew it would happen and did not mistake it for something larger and truly dangerous.”

About Ukraine

📍If it were not for the coup in Kiev, Crimea would be part of Ukraine, and if Kiev had fulfilled the Minsk agreements, Donbass would have remained part of Ukraine.

📍”We have no intention of destroying the Ukrainian people. They are brothers and sisters to the Russian people.”

📍The key for the Russian Federation remains the non-aligned status of Ukraine: “No NATO. No military bases, military exercises on Ukrainian soil with the participation of foreign troops.”

📍The settlement must take into account the inclusion of four new regions in Russia and the need to repeal Russophobic laws in Ukraine.

About sanctions

📍”They will never kill us. And that makes us stronger.”

On the escalation in Syria

📍Russia, Iran and Turkey maintain contacts in connection with the escalation in Syria. Moscow has information about foreign sponsors of the militants.

On Trump

📍”I think he is a strong person who wants to achieve results and does not like to put things off until later. That is my impression. He is very friendly in conversation. However, this does not mean that Trump is pro-Russian.”

BREAKING! #Lavrov to #Carlson:
“And since some people in Washington, and some people in London, in Brussels seem to be not very capable to understand, we will send additional messages, if they don’t draw necessary conclusions”.pic.twitter.com/TTF0dB85Kq

— Panagiotis G. Pavlos (@PGPavlos) December 5, 2024