NEW YORK, April 29. /TASS/. US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan voiced a critical approach to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent statement about the inadmissibility of a nuclear war, CNN reported.
"We won't succumb to nuclear blackmail, but we won't tolerate nuclear saber rattling and nuclear brinksmanship," Sullivan was quoted by CNN as saying.
"We do not engage in irresponsible rhetoric with respect to nuclear weapons," Sullivan said adding that Washington is "prepared to deter nuclear aggression against the United States."
Speaking earlier in an interview with Russia’s Channel One television channel, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recalled that in January the five permanent members of the UN Security Council made a statement on the inadmissibility of nuclear war. "This is our principled position, we are guided by this, and of course I would not want to see these risks artificially inflated now, when the risks are rather significant. The danger is serious, it is real, it should not be underestimated," according to Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Thursday on her Telegram channel that a number of Western countries’ statements regarding Russia’s alleged nuclear threat were all fake news. According to her, the West has little interest in what the Russian side says and, therefore, misinterprets everything, which was the case with the previously voiced statement of the Russian top diplomat.