Russian news agency Sputnik on Saturday quoted Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov on Saturday as saying that Moscow is committed to the principle of "inadmissibility of waging a nuclear war." According to Sputnik, Lavrov stressed the need to protect the interests of his country, warning "those who speak with Russia in the language of sanctions" that Moscow's patience in "the face of acts of economic aggression is not limitless." "We have all the means to protect our national interests," Lavrov said at a press conference on Saturday, adding that if necessary, "we will use them to the maximum." "Tearing apart the Russian economy, as dreamed of by former US President Barack Obama, has not come true and will not come true," the minister added. "Everything they wanted to provoke in our country has begun to appear on their doorstep." He added that a number of European countries are experiencing a sharp rise in prices, a decline in incomes, and a shortage of energy resources, explaining that the usual benefits of civilisation have become a privilege for Europeans. "This is the price that ordinary citizens pay for the Russophobia pursued by their politicians," he asserted. In earlier statements on Friday, Lavrov said that the statements of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he proposed to NATO to launch preventive strikes against Russia "confirm the need" for what he called a "special operation" in Ukraine. For its part, Kiev was quick to respond, noting that the Ukrainian president's statements about a "pre-emptive strike" were referring to the imposition of sanctions. In a discussion with the Lowy Institute — an Australian think tank — Zelensky said that he believed that the "strikes" were necessary to prevent any use of nuclear weapons, without elaborating on what kind of strikes he intended, nor mentioning any need for nuclear attacks. Meanwhile, Lavrov, during a speech to the United Russia Party, explained that NATO supports the Ukrainian president to confront Russia and impose hegemony, stressing that the West bears the responsibility for supplying the Kiev regime with weapons. "Zelensky called on the Westerners to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Russia. Thus, this man actually provided another proof to the whole world of the threats that come from the Kiev regime, which the Russian special military operation was launched in order to neutralise," the minister affirmed.
