MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Claims by US President Joe Biden and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin that Russia will allegedly target NATO immediately after its victory in Ukraine show their desperate position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the program Great Game on Channel One.

"Both Austin and President Biden uttered sheer nonsense. President Biden was prompted this phrase: we must fight for Ukraine to the last Ukrainian, otherwise we firmly know that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, after victory in Ukraine, will immediately turn towards the Baltic states, Finland and other NATO countries," Lavrov said. "The [Russian] president commented on these statements, but the very fact that such serious people, the head of the Pentagon and the president of the United States, say this out loud, testifies to their very desperate position," Lavrov stated.

He noted that such statements were "knowingly false to any knowledgeable person."

"This means that there are no arguments left to make the allies toe the line," Lavrov added.