Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovsaid Thursday that he hopes the West will take Moscow’s recent use of a hypersonic missile in Ukraine “seriously,” and warned that Russia is willing to use “any means” to defend oneself.
The United States and its allies “must understand that we would be willing to use any medium to not allow them to succeed in what they call the strategic defeat of Russia,” Lavrov said in an interview with the American media Tucker Carlson published on Thursday.
Two weeks ago, Russia fired its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile over the Ukrainian city of Dniproin a major escalation of the almost three-year war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has since threatened to use the weapon against kyiv in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory.
“We are sending signals and we hope that the last one, a couple of weeks ago, the signal with the new weapons system called Oreshnik… has been taken seriously”, says Lavrov.
Although he insisted that Russia does not want to escalate the situation and wishes “avoid any misunderstanding” with Washington and its partners, Lavrov warned that “We will send additional messages if they do not draw the necessary conclusions.”
Putin said the Oreshnik missile flies at 10 times the speed of sound and cannot be intercepted by air defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky has described the attack as “last bout of Russian madness” and has called for air defense systems to be updated to deal with the new threat.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not rule out that Moscow could hit decision-making centers in kyiv with the new hypersonic missile if attacks with long-range Western weapons against Russian territory continue.
“We do not rule out the use of the Oreshnik against military and military industry installations or against decision-making centers in kyiv, among others”said the head of the Kremlin at a press conference in Astana after attending a summit of the military alliance Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
He added that kyiv authorities are continuing attempts to attack Russian “critical facilities,” including those in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
“We will respond to acts of aggression against Russia. How, when and with what weapons will depend on the Russian Ministry of Defense.”noted the head of the Kremlin.
He added that for each objective “a different instrument” must be used.
Regarding the willingness to negotiate peace, Putin stated that the appearance of the Oreshnik missile “has not changed anything.”
“Our fundamental attitude towards the solution of the situation in Ukraine does not change: a) for the negotiation process and b) of course, in the terms that I established in my speech to the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June of this year,” he stated.
On that occasion, Putin demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories that became part of Russia, the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, the regions of Zaporizhzhia y Khersonas well as the non-aligned status of Ukraine, the denazification and demilitarization of the country and the abolition of all Western sanctions.
(With information from AFP)
