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West keeps talking about nuclear war to promote Russophobia — Lavrov

The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that Western countries were also taking advantage of the talk about a nuclear war in order to put the blame on Russia

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. The West keeps talking about a nuclear war in order to maintain pressure on the public and promote Russophobia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian and foreign media outlets on Thursday.

"I would like to reiterate that it’s not us that keeps bringing up the issue of a nuclear war, World War III. Apparently, it is being used to keep the Western public under constant pressure and promote Russophobia, to the extent that any Russian is currently subject to aggression," the top diplomat noted.

"Students are being expelled, artists are not allowed to perform, athletes are being deprived of opportunities. I have just realized what it is about: in particular, it is about unfair competition aimed at gaining advantages in the field of sports, art and other spheres of human activity. It’s a dishonest thing," Lavrov added.

The Russian top diplomat stressed that Western countries were also taking advantage of the talk about a nuclear war in order to put the blame on Russia. "The talk was initiated by your Foreign Minister Le Drian, who urged Vladimir Putin to remember that France also owned nuclear weapons. [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky also talked about it, and [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg said that they would deploy nuclear weapons closer to Russia if necessary. [British Foreign Secretary] Liz Truss said that she was ready for a war between NATO and Russia," Lavrov emphasized. "You are trying to take advantage of this talk to put the blame on us," he added.