Russia sends "signals" but denies being at war with West

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During the nearly 90-minute interview posted on platform X, Lavrov reiterated previously expressed views several times but responded cautiously to Tucker Carlson's repeated questions about the risk of nuclear war. When asked if Russia is at war with America, Lavrov replied that he "would not say" that it is so.

- I wouldn't say so. And in any case, this is not what we want. We would like to have normal relations with all our neighbors, of course, but generally with all countries especially with the great country like the United States. And President Vladimir Putin repeatedly expressed his respect for the American people, for the American history, for the American achievements in the world, and we don't see any reason why Russia and the United States cannot cooperate for the sake of the universe - the Russian Foreign Minister stated.

However, he admitted that a hybrid war is in progress. - Well, we officially are not at war. But what is going on in Ukraine is that some people call it hybrid war. I would call it hybrid war as well, but it is obvious that the Ukrainians would not be able to do what they're doing with long-range modern weapons without direct participation of the American servicemen. And this is dangerous, no doubt about this - he said about the ATACMS missile attacks on targets deep in Russia.

The Russian diplomat also stated that Russia "will be ready to do anything to defend our legitimate interests" and fired a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile, called Oreshnik, at Ukraine to make it clear to the West that it will not allow what they call a strategic defeat of Russia.

- We don’t want to aggravate the situation, but since ATACMS and other long-range weapons are being used against mainland Russia as it were, we are sending signals. We hope that the last one, a couple of weeks ago, the signal with the new weapon system called Oreshnik was taken seriously - Lavrov said.

He also denied Carlson’s suggestions that Russia and the US do not have communication channels regarding nuclear issues and confirmed that the US was alerted by the Russian system with a 30-minute notice before launching the Oreshnik. He also stated that although there are unofficial talks with the US, Washington’s envoys say privately the same as they do publicly.

- Our military doctrine says that the most important thing is to avoid a nuclear war - Lavrov assured and expressed hope that similar sentiments prevail in the US.

- I say so because some time ago John Kirby, who is the White House communications coordinator, was answering questions about escalation and about possibility of nuclear weapons being employed. And he said, 'Oh, no, we don't want escalation because then if there is some nuclear element, then our European allies would suffer.' So even mentally, he excludes that the United States can suffer. And this is something which makes the situation a bit risky. It might – if this mentality prevails, then some reckless steps would be taken, and this is bad - stated the head of Russian diplomacy.

When asked about the Russian conditions for ending the war, Lavrov said that the key principle for Russia is Ukraine’s "non-aligned" status and stated that Moscow "would be ready to be part of the group of countries who would provide collective security guarantees to Ukraine."

He also suggested that Russia must have control over the annexed regions of Ukraine. Asked about lifting sanctions, he said that although many in Russia would want it, the sanctions have shown the need for self-sufficiency.

For Carlson, it was his second visit to Moscow. In February of this year, he conducted a similarly lenient interview with Vladimir Putin. Announcing the conversation with Lavrov, Carlson said he wanted to present Americans with the Russian perspective on the conflict.