Lavrov denies the possibility of a nuclear strike on Ukraine
Olena Roschina - Tuesday, 19 April 2022, 12:05
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov, provides assurances that Russia is not considering the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Source: "Interfax" and "RIA Novosti", referring to Lavrov's words from an interview on Tuesday with the "India Today" channel.
Details: Russian media agencies have cited in various ways Lavrov's answer to the question of whether Russia is considering the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Interfax provided the following version of Lavrov’s answer: "Conventional weapons only."
RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov: "At this stage, we are considering the option of conventional weapons."
In addition, Lavrov said that Russia is starting the next phase of the "special operation" in Ukraine, in other words a new stage of the war. "This operation will continue, the next phase of this operation is now beginning. I am confident that it will be a very important moment in the whole special operation. The operation is aimed at the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics", Lavrov said.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Minister is once again trying to convince people that Moscow is not going to change the "regime in Ukraine" because "the people should have freedom of choice."
Lavrov continues to insist on the Kremlin's version: the root cause of the war is the desire of the United States and the West to rule the world and create a unipolar world. The United States allegedly "pumped weapons into Ukraine" to create a "bridgehead" against Russia near its borders. In fact, weapons began to arrive in Ukraine only on the eve of the war, when intelligence services were already aware of the date of the Russian invasion.
Background: The Russian authorities have repeatedly lied about their plans for Ukraine: they denied their intention to start a war, justifying the concentration of troops near the Ukrainian borders by calling them exercises; they denied the intention to occupy Ukraine, yet they have been doing so for the past nine years; they denied compiling liquidation lists, as reported by Western intelligence, and they are now implementing them in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
