"One gets the impression that just as Hitler put most of Europe, including the French, Spanish, and Scandinavians, under the Nazi banner, so the United States is now rallying Europe so that it will bear the brunt of the war with Russia — so far with elements of a hybrid war, but increasingly turning into a real, 'direct' war against us. And also under the Nazi banner. Only this time the 'standard-bearer' is not Hitler, but Zelensky," he said in an interview.
US to Continue Trying to Restrain Russia Regardless of Election Outcome
Moscow must prepare for the continuation of attempts to restrain Russia's development under any administration after the presidential elections in the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Returning to the question of which of the US candidates or parties is more preferable to us, I can only say that we must prepare for the fact that the attack on our interests, actions to restrain our development will continue under any administration," the minister said in an interview with the AiF website.
"The Americans consider any international problem, any of their international interlocutors, first of all, from the point of view of the inadmissibility (as they have written in their doctrinal documents) of anyone on this planet becoming stronger than the United States. It is clear that this is a utopia. If you look at the evolution of the contribution of the gross domestic product of various countries to the global GDP, the share of the United States is steadily declining, while that of China, India, and BRICS as a whole is steadily growing. It already exceeds the combined GDP of the G7 countries by about 5 percentage points," he noted.
The United States does not want to give up the reins of power that they had after World War II through the Bretton Woods institutions, through the role assigned to the dollar in the international monetary system, even after the system of free exchange of the dollar for gold was abolished, the minister said. According to Lavrov, the leading position of the dollar is largely maintained artificially.
"If we judge by statistics, GDP volume, and other indicators that determine the share of votes of the IMF member countries, then The United States (if these statistics were reflected in real decisions) would have long ago lost the right to veto decisions applied by the Fund's board of directors. They are holding back this reform, which BRICS advocates, just as they are holding back the reform of the WTO, where the Americans have blocked the work of the dispute settlement body for many years," he said.
"All this reflects the main goal of the American ruling class — to prevent anyone from undermining their dominance. This goal is illusory. The historical process is objectively moving in a different direction, and this will have to be taken into account," the minister concluded.
US Lies When Claims Readiness for Arms Reduction Talks With Russia
US President Joe Biden's statements about Washington's readiness for negotiations with Russia on reducing nuclear weapons without preconditions are all lies, Sergey Lavrov said.
Earlier, Biden said that the world needed to strive for the complete elimination of the nuclear arsenal, and also confirmed the US readiness for negotiations with Russia, China and North Korea in this direction, but kept silent about the significant expenditures of the US government on the development and strengthening of its own nuclear triad.
"This is all from the evil one. The call to talk about strategic stability, about nuclear arms control without preconditions is a lie. What does 'without preconditions' mean? It means that the Americans reserve the right to declare us an enemy in their doctrinal documents, to officially declare that their goal is to inflict a 'strategic defeat' on Russia on the battlefield. Judging by what US President Joe Biden said, we must accept this, not demand that they abandon this policy, but sit down with them and negotiate arms reductions," the minister said.
Now the Americans are offering the same to North Korea, the minister said.
"Negotiations on arms control are conducted on the basis of mutual respect, recognition by both sides that there should be no war. When they tell you, like, let's start negotiations without any conditions, but my goal is to destroy you on the battlefield — is that smart? I don't think so," Lavrov said.
Long before the Ukrainian events, Russia offered the United States to hold such a conversation, the minister noted. Lavrov recalled that when the nuclear "five" had held a strategic dialogue, and the United States had wanted China to enter into negotiations on limiting its weapons.
"China, for obvious reasons, refused to do this, since its potential is not yet comparable to either the American or ours. Moreover, we are not part of any military alliance with China and are not bound by the obligations that NATO members are bound by," the minister noted.
NATO is an alliance of three nuclear powers (the United States, France, and Britain), Lavrov pointed out.
"Therefore, we then proposed to hold a conversation, taking into account the combined potential of these three states, which is ultimately aimed geopolitically and practically at the territory of the Russian Federation. The United States said 'no.' They say that England and France make their decisions, and the Americans do not want to interfere in their affairs. It sounds funny," he said.
"Their goal is to promote, for self-promotion, to manipulate public opinion, the idea of arms limitation between Russia and the United States, without touching the reserves of Paris and London and the issues of non-nuclear weapons, which are inextricably linked with strategic stability, in which NATO significantly surpasses us. All of these are components of strategic stability, which we would all like to see. But we need to talk about this taking into account all the factors, including those I mentioned, and not slyly 'throw in' a beautiful slogan, behind which lies the desire to gain unilateral advantages," the minister concluded.
Russia is monitoring the election campaign in the US and doesn't see any signs that Moscow and Washington will return to equal talks after the elections, Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are ready to work with any administration that the American people ultimately choose, but only if such a conversation is mutually respectful and equal and is based on listening to and hearing each other. We are monitoring the election campaign in the US and at the moment we don't see any signs that we will return to such a conversation," he said in an interview with the AiF website.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his vice presidential nominee are talking about the need to resume dialogue in order to solve "one problem in 24 hours, another in 72," Lavrov said.
"We will understand what we will be talking about only when the new administration officially assumes its duties and formulates its position. I repeat that we have never abandoned dialogue and it was not we who interrupted it. It is important that the Russian Embassy in the United States continues to operate. The Americans are creating difficulties for the functioning of our diplomatic mission in Washington, and we are forced to reciprocate. Dialogue is the essence of diplomacy. We are ready for it on conditions that correspond to the purpose of diplomacy," the minister emphasized.
Answering the question of who is worse for Russia — Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, Lavrov said that Moscow would wait for the will of the American people.
The US presidential election will be held on November 5. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the Democratic Party, and former President Donald Trump will represent the Republican Party.