Lavrov to Tucker Carlson: No NATO and Recognition of Russia’s Annexed Ukrainian Territories for Peace

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, released an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, recorded in Moscow, on his X account on December 6.

During the conversation, Lavrov made a series of statements, particularly concerning conditions for ending the war in Ukraine.

Lavrov emphasized that achieving peace in Ukraine would require the absence of NATO, Western military bases, and foreign-led exercises on the territory of Ukraine.

“No NATO. Absolutely. No military bases, no military exercises on the Ukrainian soil with participation of foreign troops,” Lavrov said about conditions, Russia is “reiterating”.

He also mentioned that Western allies must accept the realities on the ground as part of any “deal on Ukraine.”

“The key principle is non-block status of Ukraine. And we would be ready to be part of the group of countries who would provide collective security guarantees to Ukraine,” said Russian FM.

In addition, Russian FM claimed that Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions are now Russian territory after Russia illegally staged referendums in 2022.

“After the referendum was held in Donetsk, Lugansk republics, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. And they are now part of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution. And this is a reality.”

Talking about the danger of Russia’s new Oreshinik missile after its test launch on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 27 and the threats it poses to the world and nuclear diplomacy Russian FM said “We are not talking about exterminating anybody’s population. We (Russia) did not start this war. We have been, for years and years and years, sending warnings that pushing NATO closer and closer to our borders is going to create a problem.”

He reiterated several other Russian narratives and addressed the broader relationship between Russia and the United States.

On long-range weapons

“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.”

“We don’t want to aggravate the situation”, Lavrov said and added that he hopes the US took its message seriously following the Oreshnik test.

The Oreshnik strike demonstrated Russia’s readiness to use all available means to prevent Western allies of Ukraine from achieving a “strategic defeat” of Moscow.

The US was warned of the Oreshnik missile test “30 minutes in advance” said Russian FM.

“They knew that this was the case and that they don’t mistake it for anything bigger and real dangerous.”

On hybrid war

Officially, Russia and the US are not at war, “what is going on in Ukraine is that some people call it a hybrid war. I would call it a hybrid war as well,” said Russian FM.

Lavrov also pointed out that Russia started "special military operation" in response to the Western allies and Ukraine not adhering to the Minsk agreements.

On nuclear war

“We (Russia) don’t have any intention to exterminate Ukrainian people. They are brothers and sisters to the Russian people,” Lavrov said.

“We hate even to think about war with the United States, which will take nuclear character. Our military doctrine says that the most important thing is to avoid a nuclear war,” Russian FM added.

On cooperation

“We (Russia) don’t see any reason why Russia and the United States cannot cooperate for the sake of the universe.”

Moscow does not believe that resolving the Ukraine issue is solely a matter for Russia and the US.

On Syria

Lavrov claimed, that the US, Britain, and other states are reportedly supporting Islamist groups in Syria, according to open information, which Lavrov described as a “complicated game.”

On Trump and Biden

Lavrov said that Donald Trump is “a very strong person. A person who wants results.”

He also mentioned that Russia will assess Trump’s administration “by specific steps. It’s obvious, though, that the Biden administration would like to leave a legacy to the Trump administration as bad as they can.”

Speaking about Trump’s relations with Russia Lavrov said that “He’s very friendly in discussions. But this does not mean that he’s pro-Russian as some people try to present him. The amount of sanctions we received under the Trump administration was very big.”

“The ball, as President Putin said, is on their (US) side”, said Lavrov regarding future Russia-US diplomacy.

Carlson already visited Moscow to film an interview with Putin in February 2024.

After that, Carlson visited Lex Fridman’s podcast, where he described his impressions of his interview with Putin and admitted that the Kremlin is trying to demonize Ukrainians by calling them Nazis.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to participate in a three-hour podcast with Lex Fridman, a podcast host known for his long-form interviews on science, politics, and culture.