Lavrov said this while discussing the possibility of using nuclear weapons.
According to the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in the West “irresponsible speculation that Russia is going to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine is incessantly unfolding”, while Russia is allegedly talking about “completely different things”.
“KuThe West’s quest for total containment of our country is extremely dangerous. It runs the risk of slipping into a direct armed confrontation between the nuclear powers. We warn of this and repeat again and again that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it must never be waged. On the other hand, the nuclear signals coming from the West are very conflicting. There, it seems, they completely discarded all decency. In particular, the notorious Liz Truss stood out, who without a shadow of a doubt declared during the pre-election debate that she was absolutely ready to order a nuclear attack. However, Washington went further: there some “anonymous officials” of the Pentagon actually threatened to inflict a “beheading blow” on the Kremlin, but in reality it is a threat of physical elimination of the head of the Russian state,” Lavrov said .
He added that if ideas of Putin’s removal “are actually being harbored by someone, that someone should think very carefully about the possible consequences of such plans.”
What exactly Lavrov had in mind when he spoke of anonymous Pentagon officials, he did not specify. It’s probably about the material. Newsweekreleased in September.
The author of the article, referring to sources in military circles, reported that in response to nuclear threats to the Russian Federation, the United States is considering measures such as moving submarines and aircraft, but non-nuclear options (including the possibility to use conventional weapons, conduct a special operation or a cyber attack) “are in the first place, including a decapitating blow to kill Putin in the heart of the Kremlin”.
After full-scale Russian invasion Putin told Ukraine on September 21st readiness to use nuclear weapons with a threat to the territorial integrity of Russia.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken noted in an interview with CBS News on Sept. 25 that the US warned the Russian Federation of possible “terrible consequences” in the event of the use of nuclear weapons by the aggressor country. According to the Washington Post, between the administration of US President Joe Biden and the Russian authorities there is a correspondence, during which the Russian side was warned about the consequences of using nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine.
On October 27, during a speech at the Valdai discussion club, Putin said that Russia “never said” about a possible candidacy of its nuclear weapons, but “responded only with hints”.
According to the New York Times, top Russian military discussed when and how Russia could run as a candidate tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. That information was released within the US government in October. The Pentagon estimates that Russia has up to 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons in its arsenal, designed to be used on the battlefield to suppress conventional forces.
In a special episode of the Netflix show “My next guest needs no introduction” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was unlikely to dare to use nuclear weaponsbecause he fears for his life.
