US will face “dangerous consequences” in Ukraine - Putin‘s top diplomat

The United States will face “dangerous consequences” if it presses on with growing military aid to Ukraine rather than backing a proposed Russian settlement that would see Moscow take over swathes of territory, the man serving as Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s top diplomat for 20 years said in exclusive responses to Newsweek questions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin offers a viable blueprint to end the bloodshed and revamp the security architecture of the continent. He accused the U.S.-led NATO military alliance of first sowing the seeds of war a decade ago and continuing to fan the flames.

“Russia is open to a politico-diplomatic settlement that should remove the root causes of the crisis,” he said. “It should aim to end the conflict rather than achieve a ceasefire.”

At present, as far as we can see, restoring peace is not part of our adversary’s plan. Zelensky has not revoked his decree banning negotiations with Moscow,” Lavrov said. “Washington and its NATO allies provide political, military and financial support to Kyiv so that the war would go on. They are discussing authorizing the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] to use Western long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. ‘Playing with fire’ in this way may lead to dangerous consequences.”

“What we have in mind is that the world order needs be adjusted to the current realities,” he said. “Today the world is living through the ‘multipolar moment’. Shifting towards the multi-polar world order is a natural part of power rebalancing, which reflects objective changes in the world economy, finance and geopolitics. The West waited longer than the others, yet it has also started to realize that this process is irreversible.”

Lavrov’s remarks come as the Russian military advances on several key Ukrainian fronts despite simultaneously battling a Ukrainian counterstrike within Russia itself. Despite this warning from Moscow, commander of the United States European Command, General Christopher Cavoli, has compiled a list of weapons that could assist Ukraine in its defense against Russia. This list includes long-range missiles, among other items, according to CNN.

According to the agency's sources, the list was presented to Congress at the beginning of last month and is part of a classified report on the Biden administration's strategy regarding Ukraine.

CNN reports that the list includes JASSM long-range missiles for F-16s, which can hit targets within a range of up to 370 kilometers.

Cavoli also included the Link 16 communication system in the list, a data exchange network used by the US and NATO. This system is intended to ensure uninterrupted communication between combat systems and is particularly useful for command and control in air and missile defense.

The source noted that Ukraine has repeatedly requested the transfer of both JASSM missiles and Link 16 systems.