Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, issued a warning against the United States government for carrying out a "decapitation blow" that targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a "threat" that sought to physically eliminate the leader of Moscow.
The official made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview with the Russian state news agency TASS. It was reportedly a reference to an unverified report that spread in September citing an anonymous Pentagon official who said that the U.S. was considering such a move if Moscow ever launched a nuclear strike amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's Message to the US
Lavrov said that Washington went the furthest and called the unnamed officials threats who sought to inflict a "decapitation blow" on the Kremlin. He added that if such a plot was actually made by someone, they should think carefully about the potential consequences of such actions.
The Russian foreign minister was speaking about the war in Ukraine, saying that it was no longer a secret to anyone that the strategic goal of the US and its NATO allies was "victory over Russia on the battlefield," as per Fox News.
Lavrov said that for the sake of achieving a certain goal, Russia's enemies were prepared for a lot of things. He argued that the main beneficiary of the "hot conflict" is the United States, which he claimed wanted to extract the maximum benefit from the conflict, both economically and military-wise.
At the same time, the Russian foreign minister argued that Washington was also solving an important geopolitical task, which was to break the traditional ties between Russia and Europe while also subjugating the European satellites.
According to Al Jazeera, Lavrov's comments come after he previously gave Ukraine an ultimatum, to fulfill Moscow's demands, which include surrendering Ukrainian territory, or the Russian army will decide Kyiv's fate.
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Moscow's Ultimatum for Ukraine
The remarks come a day after Putin once again said that he and his country were willing to conduct peace talks with Ukraine. However, those wishes were described by the United States as being "disingenuous."
On Monday, Lavrov reportedly said that Russia's proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine and the elimination of threats to Moscow's security are well-known to the enemy. The foreign minister said that Russia's point was simple, Ukraine should fulfill the conditions for its own good. He argued that otherwise, such a matter would be decided by the Russian military force.
When Putin made the peace talk remarks on Sunday, he added that Kyiv was the one not willing to cooperate, including its Western backers. Russia's military troops are engaged in fierce fighting in the east and south of Ukraine as the war enters its 11th month and as Moscow's forces experience a myriad of setbacks on the battlefield.
The situation comes as last September, Russia proclaimed that it had annexed four provinces within Ukrainian territory; Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. The decision was made after Moscow authorities allegedly held so-called referendums that were rejected by many international powers, including Kyiv, as being bogus and illegal, Reuters reported.
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