Russia warns the US and NATO will face military retaliation.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the US and NATO would receive a decisive response to any missile threats against Russia.
According to RIA Novosti on December 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated in an interview that the US and NATO would receive decisive resistance in the form of military-technical measures from Moscow if they created a new missile threat to Russia.
Responding to a question about whether a "double decision by NATO" could be repeated in the current situation, Foreign Minister Lavrov stressed that he did not believe it was appropriate to speculate on what could and could not happen "in the minds of those making decisions in the North Atlantic Alliance."
“For our part, we are ready for any situation. In the event of new missile threats, the adversary will receive a decisive response in the form of military-technical countermeasures. Dialogue will also be considered,” said Foreign Minister Lavrov.
He added that Russia might only be interested in the overall context of reducing the risk of conflict, with a focus on eliminating the root causes of fundamental conflicts in the security sphere.
"First of all, it includes the long-term eastward expansion of NATO. This is the root cause of the Ukraine crisis and continues to pose a threat to Russia's security. In theory, this issue could also be discussed, but it is only part of a broader agenda," Lavrov noted.
The "NATO dual solution," adopted by the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany on December 12, 1979, included deploying US intermediate-range missiles in Europe while continuing negotiations with the Soviet Union on their elimination.
Pershing missiles were deployed in West Germany from 1983 to 1985, accompanied by unprecedented protests. The largest action took place on October 22, 1983, when, according to some estimates, around 1.2 million people took to the streets in German cities.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that, in the process of rearming its strategic nuclear forces, Russia is clearly adhering to the limits stipulated in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
The minister added: “We have always adhered to what we have stated: by explicitly incorporating the rearmament of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces into the limits of the New START Treaty, we are carefully monitoring Washington’s actions.”
Assessing the current situation of the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov stated that Kyiv and the West need a discussion on the possibility of establishing a ceasefire in Ukraine to allow time for the Ukrainian armed forces to recover their potential, and then continue to inflict damage on Russia. "This is a dead end," the Russian Foreign Minister asserted.
