Lavrov: Western Attempts to Defeat Russia Mirror 1945 'Operation Unthinkable'
16:41 GMT 28.09.2024 (Updated: 18:44 GMT 28.09.2024)
© Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
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Suicidal attempts to achieve victory over a nuclear power like Russia are pointless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denounced Western schemes to destroy Russia in his speech to the United Nations.
"A strategic defeat has been declared as the goal for Russia, similar to what London and Washington planned in May 1945, when they developed 'Operation Unthinkable' aimed at destroying the USSR, even before the end of World War II," Lavrov told a meeting of the UN General Assembly.
"Back then, it was kept in strict secrecy, but today's Anglo-Saxon strategists do not hide their intentions, although they still hope to defeat Russia through the illegitimate neo-Nazi regime in Kiev," he added.
"They are also preparing Europe to jump into this suicidal adventure. I won't go into the senselessness and danger of the idea of fighting to the finish against a nuclear power like Russia," Lavrov said.
At a meeting of the Russian National Security Council on September 25, President Vladimir Putin announced updates to the "Fundamentals of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence."
The president indicated that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, with the support of a nuclear power, would be considered a joint attack.
Moscow also reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression, including if an enemy creates a critical threat to its sovereignty using conventional weapons, the president added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the changes in Russia's nuclear doctrine are a signal to unfriendly countries.
He stressed that rational heads of state already understood the seriousness of Putin's statements, especially in the face of the "unprecedented confrontation" provoked by the direct involvement of Western countries in the Ukrainian conflict.
Peskov explained that Russia's nuclear potential and its deterrent role are well known to the world. He added that there is currently an "adjustment in nuclear deterrence" in light of the tensions developing along the country's borders.
At the same time, Russia does not rule out dialogue with the West and has proposed the idea of an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, Lavrov said.
"We are not closing off dialogue with the West," Lavrov told the General Assembly.
He underlined that Russia had already proposed a system of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, open to all states and organizations on the continent, before the conflict in in Ukraine.
Lavrov added that an international conference on this topic will be held in Minsk on October 31.
United Nations Reform
Revitalizing the UN cannot be achieved through summits detached from reality, but only through restoring trust based on equality among all states, Lavrov told the general assembly meeting.
"It’s not too late to breathe new life into the UN, but this can be done not through out-of-touch summits and declarations, but by restoring trust on the basis of the Charter’s principle of sovereign equality of all states," Lavrov said.
He noted that the recent UN Summit of the Future showed there were attempts to blur the intergovernmental nature of the organization and to delay reforms to the process of staffing its Secretariat, with the West holding key positions.
"The Secretariat should promote unifying ideas, propose compromise solutions, rather than invent excuses to push narratives favorable to the West," Lavrov stressed.
31 March 2023, 10:52 GMT
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik that the process of adopting the Pact for the Future at the Summit of the Future in New York contradicted agreed-upon procedures, and no proper negotiations took place.
"We must negotiate honestly, with the participation of all UN members, not like the so-called 'Pact for the Future' was prepared — without a single plenary round of negotiations involving all countries," Lavrov said.
"Instead, the work was conducted under the control of Western manipulators. As a result, the pact, barely born, has already joined the ranks of beautifully worded English-language declarations," he added.
On Sunday, the Summit of the Future approved the Pact for the Future, committing to reform the Security Council, protect civilians in armed conflicts and honor disarmament obligations. Russia proposed postponing the adoption of the document due to unresolved issues and continuing negotiations. It also proposed an amendment on non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, which was not supported. Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy remarked that the UN violated its own principles to please a group of delegations from the "beautiful garden" — the West — that had taken over the talks.
The Ukrainian Crisis
The Russian foreign minister urged countries proposing peace initiatives on Ukraine to address the root causes of the conflict
"We urge our friends to fully consider the facts I mentioned about the true causes of the current situation in their future efforts," Lavrov said. "Without addressing them, a just peace based on the UN Charter cannot be achieved."
He added that Russia appreciates the efforts of many partners who have sincerely promoted mediation initiatives on Ukraine.
"We value their constructive focus on results, unlike Zelensky's dead-end 'peace formula'," the minister noted.
Political Assassination of Hezbollah Leader
Lavrov called Israel's killing of of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a bombing raid on Friday a political assassination, expressing concern over such methods.
"The methods of political assassination, which have almost become commonplace, are extremely worrying, as was the case again yesterday in Beirut," Lavrov said.
Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah's press service confirmed that Nasrallah was killed in the Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
On Monday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) General Staff named the ongoing offensive operation in Lebanon "Northern Arrows."
Since last week, the Israeli Air Force has carried out massive strikes on Hezbollah targets across various regions of Lebanon. Several targeted airstrikes on Beirut were also reported, resulting in the elimination of senior Hezbollah commanders.
To date, the IDF has reported strikes on thousands of Hezbollah targets. Observers note that Israel has not attacked Hezbollah with such intensity since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Israel's Inhumane Attacks on Lebanon
Lavrov condemned Israel's attack on Lebanon as inhumane, suggesting that Moscow believes Washington was at least aware of the preparation for the latest terrorist act.
"The latest glaring example of terrorist methods as a means of achieving political goals is the inhumane attack on Lebanon by turning civilian technologies into deadly weapons," he said.
"This crime must be investigated immediately, but even now, we cannot ignore the numerous media reports, including those in Europe and the US, which suggest some level of involvement or, at the very least, knowledge on Washington's part regarding the preparation of this terrorist act," Lavrov stressed.
20 September, 00:13 GMT
Russia understands that "the Americans always deny everything and will do everything possible to bury the emerging facts, just as they did in response to the irrefutable evidence of their involvement in the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines," Lavrov added.
On September 17 and 18, communication devices, including pagers and radios, detonated in various parts of Lebanon. Official reports indicate that 37 people were killed and over 3,000 injured.
The cause of the simultaneous explosion of thousands of devices remains unknown, but Hezbollah and Lebanese authorities blamed Israel for the incident. Israeli authorities have yet to confirm or deny their involvement.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the incident in Lebanon a monstrous act of terrorism and an attempt to ignite a larger conflict.
