Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: We Will Use Any Way To Prevent Strategic Defeat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - The use of hypersonic missiles in Ukraine's war aims to make the West understand, Moscow is ready to use any means to ensure no "strategic defeat" will befall Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast Thursday.

Russia deployed the Oreshnik hypersonic missile against Dnipro City, the crenamin last month in what Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin described as a missile test that he said could not be shot down.

He also said Russia could use other such missiles in "battle conditions" if needed.

"The message to be conveyed is that you, I mean the US and US allies, who are also providing these long-range weapons to the Kyiv regime, they must understand we will be ready to use any means not to let them succeed in what they call Russia's strategic defeat", Foreign Minister Lavrov said.

"They are struggling to maintain their hegemony over the world, in any country, any region, any continent. We are fighting for our legitimate security interests," he said.

Speaking in English, Foreign Minister Lavrov said the West had refused to address enforcement of security guarantees for Russia in the weeks and months before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which is referred to as a "special military operation" in Moscow.

In his comments, Lavrov said Ukraine had missed the opportunity to maintain its territorial integrity by twice rejecting proposals for a deal, once before the full-scale war began and then in talks in April 2022 in Turkey.

"We didn't start this war. We've been sending warnings for years that pushing NATO closer to the border we're going to create problems," Foreign Minister Lavrov explained.

In the 80-minute interview, Foreign Minister Lavrov also said the West should ignore Russia's assumption of not having a "red line" that would prevent anyone from crossing in defense of its interests.

"If they follow the logic that some Westerners have said recently, they don't believe Russia has a red line, they announced their red line, this red line is constantly being changed, this is a very serious mistake," he stressed.