Russia's Foreign Minister: The plan for negotiations to reduce nuclear weapons by the US is a lie

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: The words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came after US President Joe Biden said earlier that the world should work to completely destroy the nuclear arsenal, as well as America's readiness. It approved China and North Korea to negotiate with Russia in this regard, but remained silent on the significant spending by Washington in the field of developing and strengthening the country's nuclear triad.

In an interview with the Argument i Fact (AiF) news website, Lavrov said in response to Biden's comments: "It all comes from a malicious source. The call to talk about strategic stability and about nuclear arms control without preconditions is a lie. What does the word unconditional mean? That is, the Americans reserve the right to declare us an enemy in their documents and officially declare that their goal is to impose a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. "Judging by what Biden said, we have to accept that, not ask them to abandon the policy, but sit down with them and negotiate arms reduction."

He added that now the Americans are proposing the same issue to North Korea.

The Russian Foreign Minister continued: "Negotiations on arms control are conducted on the basis of mutual respect, and both sides recognize that there should be no war." When you're told let's start negotiations with no strings attached, but my goal is to destroy you on the battlefield, is that smart? I don't think so."

Lavrov noted that long before the war in Ukraine, Russia had offered Washington to hold such talks. He also mentioned the time when 5 nuclear powers had strategic negotiations and the US said that it wants China to enter into these negotiations regarding the limitation of its weapons.

The senior Russian diplomat continued: "China refused to do this for obvious reasons, because its potential is still not comparable to America or us." Furthermore, we are not part of any military alliance with China and are not bound by the commitments that NATO members are bound by. NATO is an alliance with the presence of 3 nuclear powers, namely France, England and the United States. Therefore, we proposed to conduct a dialogue considering the combined potential of these three countries, which will ultimately target the territory of the Russian Federation in terms of geopolitics and practicality. The United States did not accept. They say that England and France make their own decisions and the Americans do not want to interfere in their affairs. This seems funny."

"Their goal is to promote, to promote themselves, to manipulate public opinion, the idea of ​​arms limitation between Russia and the United States, without touching the nuclear stockpiles of Paris and London and the issues of non-nuclear weapons that are inextricably linked to them," Lavrov said. Also strategic stability where NATO has significantly surpassed us. These are all components of strategic stability that we would all like to see. But we have to talk about it taking into account all the factors, including the ones I mentioned, and not slyly put forward a beautiful slogan behind the desire to score unilateral points."

 

There is no sign of a return to equal negotiations

The Russian Foreign Minister continued: "Moscow is monitoring the election campaign in the United States and does not see any signs of Moscow and Washington returning to equal negotiations after the elections." We are willing to work with whatever government the American people ultimately choose, but only on the condition that such dialogue is mutually respectful and equal, and based on listening and listening to each other's opinions. "We are monitoring the election campaign in the United States and currently we see no signs of a return to such dialogue."

He added: "Donald Trump, the former president and Republican candidate, and his deputy are talking about the necessity of returning to negotiations in order to solve the problems in the shortest possible time."

He noted: "We will know what we are talking about only when the new American administration officially assumes its duties and formulates its position. I repeat again that we never stopped the dialogue and it was not us who interrupted it. It is important that the Russian Embassy in the United States continues to operate. The Americans create problems for the functioning of our diplomatic mission in Washington and we have to reciprocate. Dialogue is the essence of diplomacy. We are ready for it under conditions that match the purpose of diplomacy."

Asked who is worse for Russia, Donald Trump or his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Lavrov said Moscow is waiting for the will of the American people.

Moscow must be ready for communication

The Russian Foreign Minister continued this interview with the AiF news website and said: "Moscow must prepare for continued efforts to curb Russia's development under any administration after the presidential election in the United States."

He added: "Returning to the question of which of the candidates or parties of the United States is preferable for us, I can only say that we must prepare for the fact that the attack on the interests of Russia, measures to curb the development of the country in any government in the palace "White will continue."

"Americans evaluate every global issue and their international partners primarily through the lens of their belief that no one on Earth should surpass the United States in power," he said. Clearly, this is a utopia. If you look at the trends in the share of GDP of different countries, the share of the United States is steadily declining, while the share of China, India and the BRICS member countries is steadily growing. Currently, it has exceeded 5% of the total gross domestic product of the G7 countries.

Lavrov continued his interview: "The United States does not want to give up the reins of power it had after World War II through financial institutions, through the role it assigned to the dollar in the international monetary system. The dominant position of the dollar is mostly maintained through artificial means.

The Russian Foreign Minister added: "If we judge based on the statistics, the size of the GDP and other indicators that determine the share of the votes of the member countries of the International Monetary Fund, the United States has long ago vetoed the decisions made by the Board of Directors of the Fund, from which BRICS Supports, lost. All these are a reflection of the American ruling class in arresting all those who seek to weaken the dominance of this country. This goal is nothing more than an illusion. The historical process is objectively moving in a different direction and this should be taken into account.

 

The explosion of Nord Stream made European countries dependent on America

In another part of his speech, Lavrov said that the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline has made Germany and other European countries economically, financially and energy dependent on the United States.

He added: "Everyone has heard about the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream, but even though this issue took away the possibility of further development from Germany and other countries in the region, Europe has ignored this event." This terrorist attack has made them dependent on America in economic, financial and energy issues.

According to Isna, the Russian Foreign Minister noted: "The right-wing conservative forces, which have gained popularity in European countries with election campaigns against the European Union, are loyal to their voters, not Russia. However, Russia will engage with anyone who offers us to talk, look for common ground and think about how we can jointly improve the lives of our citizens. "We are ready to sit and talk with everyone without exception and we will not reject anyone."