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Biden’s rhetoric in his interview to ABC was outrageous, unprecedented, says Lavrov

Lavrov explained that behind any rhetoric "one should always see real action"

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted politely and in a diplomatic way to US President Joe Biden’s outrageous and unprecedented rhetoric in his interview to the ABC television network, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview to the Great Game talk show on TV Channel One.

"What we heard in US President Joe Biden’s interview to ABC was outrageous and unprecedented rhetoric," Lavrov said. "The Russian president’s reaction was diplomatic and polite."

Lavrov explained that behind any rhetoric "one should always see real action." He recalled that the systematic ruining of the entire deterrence infrastructure in the military, political and strategic spheres began back during Barack Obama’s presidency and continued under Donald Trump. Still earlier the anti-ballistic missile treaty was ditched.

"Now we have a missile defense site in Europe. Nobody says it is against Iran. It is described unequivocally as a global project called to contain Russia and China. Similar processes are afoot in the Asia-Pacific Region. And nobody says that this is against North Korea," he added.

"This a global system, which is expected to back up US claims to absolute domination, including that in the military-strategic and nuclear sphere," Lavrov said. "An unambiguous policy has been launched of deploying intermediate-and shorter-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The INF treaty was ruined by the Americans on a far-fetched pretext. It was not our choice."

US President Joe Biden in a pre-recorded interview the television network ABC aired on March 16 said the Russian leadership would have to pay a price for Moscow’s alleged attempts at interference in US elections. Also, Biden answered in the affirmative, when asked if he regarded Putin as a "killer". The White House and the Department of State later said that Washington counted on constructive cooperation with Moscow on issues of mutual interest but had no intention of smoothing contradictions in bilateral relations. After these statements Russia’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov was invited to Moscow for consultations.

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Sergey Lavrov Joseph Biden

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