Lavrov says Russia strictly committed to preventing nuclear war

Russia is strictly committed to the position of preventing nuclear war. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference following the G20 summit on November 19.

The Foreign Minister pointed out that Russia was in favor of preventing nuclear war, noting that Russia had sent a proposal to the United States on this issue back in the Soviet times. According to him, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan together stated that winners are excluded in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed.

As Lavrov noted, when the Ukrainian conflict, which is being waged by the Western side against Russia, began, many Western politicians envisioned a possible nuclear component. According to him, officials of the countries that are members of the North Atlantic Alliance at that time pointed out that NATO was a nuclear alliance. The Russian foreign minister added that it was not Russia that started the conversation about the nuclear component in the conflict, adding that Russia's nuclear doctrine update contains nothing the West does not know.

"We are convinced that nuclear weapons are first of all a means for deterrence, for preventing, preventing any nuclear war. This is how we approach this situation," Lavrov said.

He added that Russia has been at the forefront of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in defending a world in which nuclear weapons should never be used, as evidenced by the final declaration of the G20 summit.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the state's updated nuclear doctrine. A similar doctrine from 2020 was recognized as null and void. The updated document includes the amendments that the head of state announced in September. In particular, for the first time a definition of a potential adversary against whom the Russian Federation is conducting nuclear deterrence is introduced.

In addition, the conceptual basis for a nuclear strike is clarified. The Russian Federation reserves the right to use it in response to the use of nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies. Another ground is aggression against Russia or Belarus as members of the Union State with the use of conventional weapons in case of a critical threat to their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin, by signing the decree on updating the state's nuclear doctrine, approved the foundations of the state's nuclear deterrence policy to bring them in line with the current situation.

The G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro is taking place from November 18 to 19, with Russia represented by Lavrov. In the already adopted final declaration, the participants of the meeting welcomed all constructive initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The Bloomberg news agency reported that French leader Macron independently sought out Lavrov at the summit and shook his hand.