Lavrov in interview:

“We will use any means to defend ourselves”

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov(Bild: APA/AP/x.com/gerhard_mangott, Krone KREATIV)

The controversial right-wing US news presenter Tucker Carlson has once again traveled to Moscow to find out the "Russian perspective" on Russia's conflict with Ukraine and the West. This time he interviewed Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for this purpose. The Russian minister emphasized that his country wanted to avoid "any misunderstanding" with the USA. Nevertheless, it would use "every means" to defend itself.

The US and its allies "must understand that we would be ready to use any means to prevent them from achieving what they call Russia's strategic defeat", Lavrov said in an interview with Carlson published on Thursday (see video below).

Saying he hoped Western countries had taken Moscow's recent use of a new type of missile in Ukraine seriously, Lavrov continued, "We are sending signals, and we hope that the last one, a few weeks ago, the signal with the new weapon system called Oreshnik, (...) was taken seriously."

"Will send further messages"
Two weeks ago, Russia fired its new "Oreshnik" hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin threatened to fire the weapon at the Ukrainian capital Kiev in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. Lavrov now emphasized that Moscow would "send further messages" if "they do not draw the necessary conclusions".

According to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, the new hypersonic medium-range missile cannot be intercepted.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Kreml/AFP, Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV)

Putin had stated that the "Oreshnik" missile was traveling at ten times the speed of sound and could not be intercepted. The Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Selensky described the attack as the "latest outbreak of Russian madness" and called for adapted air defense systems to counter the threat.

Uncritical interview with Putin
During his last visit to Moscow, Carlson had a conversation with Putin. However, hardly any tough questions were asked. The presenter listened to the President for long stretches of his remarks and his justification for the attack on Ukraine.