Lavrov Slams Western Media for Distorting His Remarks on Risks of Nuclear War

Russia has been working tirelessly to achieve agreements that would guarantee no one will start a nuclear war, Russian Foreign Minister stressed

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out in an interview with Italy’s Mediaset broadcaster that Western media outlets had distorted his remarks on the risks of nuclear war, which did no credit to Western journalism.

"I was asked about the threats that were piling up and how real the risks of nuclear war were. This is literally what I said: Russia has been working tirelessly to achieve agreements that would guarantee no one will start a nuclear war. It was us that urged our American colleagues to once again do what Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan did in 1987, that is, adopt a statement and confirm that there could be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed," Lavrov noted. "We failed to persuade the Donald Trump administration to do it as it had its own observations on the matter. However, the Joe Biden administration accepted our proposal. A statement on the inadmissibility of a nuclear war was adopted at a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States in Geneva in June 2021. I would like to emphasize that it was done at our initiative," he added.

The Russian top diplomat noted that the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council had adopted a similar document at Moscow’s initiative in January. "After I said it, I called for exercising maximum restraint and refraining from fuelling the relevant risks. I referred to a statement by [Ukrainian] President Vladimir Zelensky who had said in February that Ukraine had made a mistake by abandoning nuclear weapons and needed to obtain them again. Another statement was made by the Polish leadership who expressed readiness to host American nuclear weapons," Lavrov said. He added that Western media outlets had failed to ask any questions in those cases, as well as after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had pointed out that France also had nuclear weapons.