By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Thursday that no war should be waged between nuclear states since even a conflict starting with conventional weapons may turn into a nuclear war.
Lavrov recalled that Russian and US presidents jointly confirmed in June 2021 that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, and that there is a similar statement adopted by five nuclear states.
"As I have already said, we were ready to go further and say that not only a nuclear war but any war must not be unleashed between nuclear states, it is unacceptable," he told a news conference on security issues in Moscow.
The US and NATO directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, not only through delivering weapons but also training servicemen, Lavrov said.
He refuted reports about strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, stressing that the infrastructure that feeds the combat potential of the Ukrainian army is currently under attack.
"Our Defense Ministry and military experts, not only Russian but also American, as well as military experts from other NATO countries pay attention to the fact that our military operation was implemented from the very beginning in the mode of minimizing any negative consequence for the civilian population and civilian infrastructure," he said.
Moscow is not seeking peace talks "to gain time to gather additional forces for a special military operation," the top diplomat said.
"This is ridiculous and unpleasant because people are lying, they are openly lying. We have never asked for negotiations, but we have always said that if someone has an interest in a negotiated solution, we are ready to listen," he asserted.
On the exchange of prisoners between Moscow and Washington, Lavrov said the Russian and US presidents agreed in June 2021 in Geneva to create a special channel between special services to address this particular topic.
"It is working and I hope some results will be achieved there," he said.
Asked about the price caps on the Russian oil, Lavrov said Moscow will not sell energy resources to the countries that introduced restrictions because any concession in this matter will lead to dissemination of price caps on other products.
"With India, China, Türkiye and other major buyers of Russian energy resources, a balance of interests in terms of timing, volume and price is always observed. But this should be decided on a mutual basis between the producer and the consumer, and not by some 'uncle' who just decided to punish someone," he said.
Russia seeks transition to a system independent of neocolonial methods, not getting little more revenue for its oil, Lavrov stressed.
- France, US 'buried' OSCE Minsk group
Commenting on Armenia's calls to continue work on the Karabakh settlement within the Minsk Group of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Lavrov pointed out that France and the US announced that they will not take part in this format and therefore "buried it."
"When our Armenian colleagues sometimes recall this Minsk Group, we tell them that this is not a question for us, it is a question for the US and France that said they will not assemble this group, and, of course, a question for Azerbaijan, because without Azerbaijan's participation, any mediation efforts are meaningless," he said.
Lavrov said after a meeting in Prague, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a statement that proclaims that the borders recognized in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration should be taken as the basis for the process of delimitation and peace agreement.
He recalled that under the 1991 declaration Karabakh is unequivocally recognized as Azerbaijan's territory.
"And it is not for nothing that the Armenian leadership has recently been talking not so much about the status of Karabakh as about ensuring the rights of the Armenian population in Karabakh. The Azerbaijani side is ready for this, it is ready to discuss and provide them with all guarantees of the rights that other Azerbaijani citizens have," he said.
The US and the EU are trying to compensate for the Minsk Group by offering mediation services to Yerevan and Baku, and to pick up and "privatize" the agreements that were reached by the parties with Russia's participation, he said.
"For example, they hold a meeting of the delimitation commission in Brussels. Well, both Armenians and Azerbaijanis are polite people, they go there. But it is difficult for me to imagine how it is possible to discuss delimitation without having the maps of the former Soviet republics, which exist only in the Russian General Staff," he said.
Relations between the two ex-Soviet countries have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
New clashes erupted in September 2020 and a 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
A tripartite agreement was brokered by Russia to bring an end to the war in November 2020.
The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.