In an important new interview, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sits down with CBS to discuss today's most pressing foreign policy issues. 🌍
Recorded on April 27, 2025, Lavrov shares Russia's perspective on its evolving relationship with the United States, the Ukrainian crisis, and the broader international landscape. 🛡️🕊️
Gain key insights into Russia’s diplomatic stance, strategic priorities, and potential paths forward in a world facing rising tensions and shifting alliances.
Stay tuned for a detailed look at Lavrov’s major statements and their global impact. ⚡
#SergeyLavrov #LavrovInterview #CBSInterview #RussiaUSRelations #UkraineCrisis #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #RussiaNews #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations #UkraineWar #WorldPolitics #BreakingNews #LavrovCBS #RussianDiplomacy #PeaceTalks #GlobalTensions #PoliticalUpdate #UkraineConflict #April2025
Recorded on April 27, 2025, Lavrov shares Russia's perspective on its evolving relationship with the United States, the Ukrainian crisis, and the broader international landscape. 🛡️🕊️
Gain key insights into Russia’s diplomatic stance, strategic priorities, and potential paths forward in a world facing rising tensions and shifting alliances.
Stay tuned for a detailed look at Lavrov’s major statements and their global impact. ⚡
#SergeyLavrov #LavrovInterview #CBSInterview #RussiaUSRelations #UkraineCrisis #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #RussiaNews #Geopolitics #InternationalRelations #UkraineWar #WorldPolitics #BreakingNews #LavrovCBS #RussianDiplomacy #PeaceTalks #GlobalTensions #PoliticalUpdate #UkraineConflict #April2025
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NewsTranscript
00:00We go now to Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
00:05Good morning, Minister Lavrov. I want to ask you about what happened in Kyiv.
00:11There was a large Russian attack on that capital city about 1 o'clock in the morning.
00:17President Trump has said publicly, the Russian strikes are not necessary and very bad timing.
00:25Vladimir, stop, was his quote.
00:27What made it worth killing civilians when Ukraine says it's ready for a ceasefire?
00:33We only target military goals or civilian sites used by the military.
00:43President Putin expressed this for so many times, and this is not different this time as well.
00:49We never consciously target civilian sites, unlike the Zelensky regime.
00:59So was this an intentional attack then, not a mistake?
01:04If this was a target used by the Ukrainian military, the Ministry of Defense, the commanders in the field have the right to attack them.
01:16So just to be clear, when the President of the United States says, Vladimir, stop, is this a rejection of that request?
01:26Was the assessment that because of what you say regarding the concerns that this loss of civilian life made it worth it?
01:34Well, I can assure you that the target attacked was not something absolutely civilian like a TV center in Belgrade in 1999.
01:46This was an intentional attack against civilian target.
01:51In our case, we only target those sites which are used by the military.
01:56And regarding the ceasefire and regarding the call to stop, President Putin immediately supported President Trump's proposal a few weeks ago to establish a 30-day ceasefire, provided we do not repeat mistakes of the last 10 years when deals were signed.
02:21And then Ukraine would violate those with the support and with the support and with encouragement from Biden administration and from European countries.
02:30This was the fate of the deal of February 2014.
02:34Then this was the fate of the Minsk agreements.
02:38And this was the fate of the deal reached on the basis of Ukrainian proposals in Istanbul in April 2022.
02:46So President Putin said ceasefire, yes, but we want the guarantees that the ceasefire would not be used again to beef up Ukrainian military and that the supplies of arms should stop.
03:01Ukraine accepted on March 11th that idea of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire without preconditions.
03:08You're saying the preconditions are a negotiation to end something else?
03:13No, it is not a precondition.
03:16It is the lessons learned after at least three times the deals similar to the one which we are discussing now were broken by the Ukrainian regime with a strong support from European capitals and by the administration.
03:33If you want a ceasefire just to continue to supply arms to Ukraine, so what is your purpose?
03:41You know what Kaya Kalas and what's his name, Mark Rutte, said about the ceasefire and the settlement?
03:48The NATO Secretary General and the European Union.
03:51They bluntly stated that they can support only the deal which at the end of the day will make Ukraine stronger, would make Ukraine a victor.
04:02So if this is the purpose of the ceasefire, I don't think this is what President Trump wants.
04:06This is what Europeans together with Zelensky want to make out of President Trump's initiative.
04:12Will Russia continue targeting Kyiv despite President Trump saying, Vladimir, stop?
04:18You're not listening to me.
04:20We will continue to target the sites used by the military of Ukraine, by some mercenaries from foreign countries,
04:30and by instructors whom the Europeans officially sent to help target Russian civilian sites.
04:41If you take a look at the situation in the Kursk region of Russia, for example,
04:48there is no single military target for the last six months which the Ukrainians would fire at.
04:56And there was also a proposal by President Trump immediately supported by President Putin
05:03to have a one-month moratorium on that tax on energy infrastructure.
05:09We never violated this commitment of President Putin.
05:14And Ukrainians violated what Zelensky seemed to support several hundred times.
05:20And I sent to Marco Rubio and to the United Nations the list of those attacks.
05:27It's really very, very telling and eloquent.
05:31And Ukraine disputes that.
05:33But putting that aside, I want to ask you about what President Trump said on Wednesday.
05:38The President of the United States says he thinks the U.S. and Russia have a deal.
05:42Let's get it done.
05:43Does President Putin agree?
05:46Well, the President of the United States believes, and I think rightly so,
05:54that we are moving in the right direction.
05:57The statement by the President mentions a deal, and we are ready to reach a deal.
06:02But there are still some specific points, elements of this deal, which need to be fine-tuned.
06:09And we are busy with this exact process.
06:14And the President of the United States did not spell out the elements of the deal,
06:20so it is not appropriate for me to do this.
06:23But he did say there was a deal, and that he was sending his envoy, Steve Witkoff,
06:28to meet with Vladimir Putin Friday in Russia.
06:31Is that meeting still happening?
06:33And should we expect a deal this week?
06:35Well, you don't trust the word of the President of the United States?
06:40I was asking your President's word.
06:42What will he tell the U.S. envoy?
06:44We continue our contacts with the American side on the situation in Ukraine.
06:51There are several signs that we are moving in the right direction.
06:56First of all, because President Trump is probably the only leader on Earth
07:00who recognized the need to address the root causes of this situation.
07:05When he said that it was a huge mistake to pull Ukraine into NATO,
07:10and this was a mistake by Biden administration, and he wants to rectify this.
07:16And Marco Rubio expressed yesterday, I think, also the assessment,
07:21that the American team now is getting a better understanding of the Russian position
07:29and of the root causes of this situation.
07:31One of these root causes, apart from NATO and creation of direct military threats to Russia
07:38just on our borders, another one is the rights of the national minorities in Ukraine.
07:45Everything Russian, media, education, culture, anything, was prohibited by law in Ukraine.
07:56And to get out of this crisis, you cannot just forget about human rights.
08:03Whenever we discuss Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, anything,
08:08American negotiators put on top human rights.
08:11They have claims in this regard to China, to us, to anybody.
08:17But whenever Europeans and other Western nations speak about Ukraine,
08:22nobody can mumble the world's human rights.
08:27Just nobody.
08:28On the contrary, what Ursula von der Leyen and other people in Brussels and in Europe say,
08:37that Ukraine is defending the European values.
08:41So one of these values is cancelling the Russian language.
08:45Imagine if Israel cancelled...
08:47It is not illegal, Minister Lavrov, to speak Russian.
08:50Imagine if Israel cancelled Arabic language in Palestine.
08:55Just imagine.
08:57Yeah.
08:59You mentioned that the U.S. and Russia need to work on some of these fine points of a deal.
09:04Yeah, you want the fine points to be spelled out?
09:07Well, of course, I'd love that.
09:09But my question was...
09:10This is not the way we...
09:11European sources say that the U.S. proposal is really just kind of a list of bullet points.
09:17Does Russia have details, the details you need at this point, in terms of a formal proposal?
09:25We are really polite people.
09:27And unlike some others, we never discuss in public what is being discussed in negotiations.
09:33Otherwise, negotiations are not serious.
09:35To ask for somebody's opinion regarding the substance, go to Zelensky.
09:43He is happy to talk to anybody through media, even to President Trump.
09:48He presents his claims.
09:50Well, he said he hasn't received a formal proposal, so I was wondering if you had.
09:55We consider serious proposals.
09:58We make serious proposals.
10:00And this is a process which is not supposed to be public until the end of it.
10:07Okay.
10:08So no deal is imminent.
10:10Okay.
10:11So no deal is imminent.
10:12I didn't say this.
10:14Now I understand, by the way, why you wanted to get the brief answers to your questions.
10:20You want some slogans to be in the broadcast.
10:25No, the President of the United States said there was a deal with Russia.
10:27So I wanted to ask Russia if there is a deal with the United States.
10:30So I just want to be clear.
10:31Well, we made our comments on this statement.
10:37The negotiations continue.
10:39And until the end of the negotiations, we cannot disclose what it is about.
10:46Okay.
10:47The National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, said last month that President Trump is asking
10:54for thousands of Ukrainian children who were taken into Russia to be released now as part
11:00of what he called confidence-building measures.
11:04What steps has Russia taken to meet Mr. Trump's request?
11:08Look, long before the request coming from Washington, we have been addressing the
11:15issue of the fate of the kids who during the conflict found themselves outside their homes, outside
11:24their families.
11:26Most of these kids were attending, were attending, what you call it, the place where people without
11:36parents are taking-
11:39Orphanage.
11:40Orphanage.
11:41Orphanage.
11:42And as soon as, and we announce whatever, whatever details we have about those kids.
11:49And as soon as relevance, I mean, the parents or other relevant relatives make themselves
11:58available there, getting the kids back.
12:01This has been the process for the last almost three years between the ombudsman of Russia and
12:08Ukraine.
12:09So there's no new release of thousands of Ukrainian children at the request of President Trump?
12:17No, there was, nobody, nobody knows why some experts advise the President about thousands
12:27of Ukrainian children.
12:29Every now and then, once in two, three months, we organize exchanges with Ukrainians, with the
12:38help of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, who do not, you know, make any noise about what
12:48they're doing.
12:49They just do something which we are participating in, in very constructive manner, bringing kids
12:56back to their parents or relatives.
13:00But what confidence-building measure can Russia offer now, particularly after this strike in
13:09Kyiv, where the President of the United States is saying, Vladimir, stop.
13:15How do you convince the United States that Russia is actually serious about peace?
13:20Well, confidence-building measures have been plentiful in the last 10 years.
13:26I mentioned a deal in February- The strike was overnight.
13:33You want a brief answer, right?
13:35As I understand from your initial words.
13:38Or you want an answer which is explaining the situation.
13:44The proposal by President Trump on 30 days moratorium on the strikes against energy infrastructure
13:52was supported by President Putin and observed strictly.
13:58This was a confidence-building measure against the policy and action taken by Zelensky regime.
14:06As I said several hundred times, civilian energy infrastructure was trapped.
14:12Another confidence-building measure was the proposal of President Trump and his team to resume
14:18the deal on Black Sea.
14:21And the delegations met in Istanbul, in Erdogan.
14:25The delegations exchanged the views how this can be implemented in practical terms.
14:33And the proposals made by Russia are being considered by the United States.
14:38There are many other examples about confidence-building measure.
14:42But if you believe that it's only Ukraine who is interested in confidence-building, I think
14:49a short answer would be this is an illusion.
14:55Do you take President Trump at his word when he says if Russia is unable to make a deal on
15:01ending the bloodshed in Ukraine, he'll put secondary tariffs, I think he means sanctions there,
15:07on oil coming out of Russia?
15:09Or do you think that, at this point, the relationship between Russia and America has been rebuilt and that won't happen?
15:18Well, I cannot comment on what you think President Trump meant when he said something.
15:24What do you think he meant when he said secondary tariffs on oil coming out of Russia?
15:29Well, we hear many things coming from President Trump.
15:32President Trump said that he is sick and tired of the situation in this settlement, especially yesterday when he commented the statements by Zelensky.
15:44And President Trump has his own proposals and has his own style in mentioning those proposals in his public speeches.
15:54We concentrate, as I said, on the real negotiations which President Trump supports and instructed his people to continue to engage in these negotiations.
16:07I'm sorry, the answer was a bit longish, but it's difficult to explain otherwise.
16:13So I asked about the threat of sanctions or secondary tariffs, because you recently said in an interview if you had to personally pick sides, you would keep the existing sanctions in place on Russia.
16:29You said you've restructured the economy to be self-sufficient, and there is a growing fear that, quote,
16:35cunning Americans will lift sanctions all of a sudden to flood our market with services and technologies.
16:42So if that's the case, why should the United States consider lifting sanctions at all?
16:47Why do you ask me?
16:51You just quoted my statement, and this statement is clear for me and clear to all those who read it.
16:59If you have questions to the American side, how they treat the situation, it is not the right address to raise it with me.
17:09So you want to keep sanctions in place?
17:12Is that really the Russian position?
17:14I don't want to re-explain what I explained, I think, in quite a clear manner.
17:22And you quoted, I think, very close to the real content, yeah.
17:28Right.
17:29But it was a bit longer than normally you prefer.
17:32I know, I know.
17:33Well, back in February, though, one of your colleagues, Kirill Dmitriev, who runs the Sovereign Wealth Fund and has been active in the diplomacy with the United States, said something a bit different.
17:46That's why I'm asking for clarification, because he said there is the expectation that American companies would return to the Russian market in the second half of 2025.
17:55Well, the president of Russia commented upon this situation.
18:00He said that we have nothing against American companies, but those companies who decided to leave their business in Russia might find that their place has been occupied already by Russian or other foreign investors.
18:17And in this case, we would not make any decisions which would discriminate those who came to invest in Russia instead of Americans.
18:30If American companies would like to come to a place which is not yet occupied, if they want to propose a project, a new project, on top of the previous business ties, of course we will look into this.
18:45And if we found, if we find balance of our interests, I think it would be only natural to get into business together.
18:57Well, what areas has the U.S. offered to lift sanctions on?
19:00Because it wouldn't be possible for an American, many American companies to enter the Russian market right now under the existing sanctions.
19:08It is up to them to decide.
19:11So no offer has been made?
19:14No.
19:15How can we offer something in a situation?
19:18The United States to Russia.
19:21Well, the United States clearly tells us that they are interested in doing business together.
19:28We never reject business proposals provided they are based on the equal opportunities and the treatment of each other and lead to a balance of interest.
19:41Specific proposals which are being mentioned in the media, I cannot comment upon.
19:47This is not serious.
19:49We are not people, we are not acting like the people in Kyiv who talk to the world through the media, including talking to presidents of great countries.
20:02So if I understand you correctly, you neither fear sanctions nor want them lifted.
20:10Look, you quoted my statement.
20:14Yes.
20:15And you quoted it right.
20:18That's my position.
20:20Okay.
20:21So when President Trump threatens new sanctions, that's not of concern.
20:26You're asking this for the third time.
20:29Yes.
20:30This was a brief answer, by the way.
20:33You are being brief and direct on that part.
20:38I was asking on the sanctions for clarity and directness.
20:43Broadly speaking, when you look at what's happening in the battle space in Ukraine right now, analysts say about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory is under the control of Russian forces.
20:55U.S. intelligence says battlefield trends are in Russia's favor.
21:01So if that's the case, why should the U.S. believe Russia is serious about ending the war if everything is in your favor?
21:11Well, we judge by the reaction of our American colleagues to what we tell them.
21:21And this is being done during negotiations.
21:24They are confidential as any serious negotiation.
21:28And they know our position.
21:30And as I quoted Marco Rubio, he publicly said that now they better understand the Russian position and the reasons for what is going on.
21:40And he said that nobody in Washington lifted a finger to do the same, to understand, to try to understand Russia during the Biden administration.
21:50And this implies that the dialogue continues, that the dialogue is supported by the United States.
21:57And I reiterate that it is supported by the Russian Federation.
22:01And this dialogue continues.
22:04So President Trump said he expects to meet soon with Vladimir Putin.
22:09What's an acceptable time and location?
22:12Why should they meet?
22:14Look, the presidents are masters of their own destiny and of their own schedule.
22:21I heard President Trump say that he is planning to be somewhere mid-May, and that after that he would be suggesting some days.
22:32I cannot add anything else.
22:34Right.
22:35He said he was asked about meeting with Vladimir Putin specifically in Saudi Arabia, and he said most likely not.
22:44That's in mid-May, but shortly thereafter.
22:47You said the same thing as I.
22:50Right.
22:51Well, what are you planning?
22:52So we read the same newspapers and watch the same channels on TV.
22:56Right.
22:57But I can't pick up the phone and call Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, like you can.
23:02What plans are you making for the two to meet?
23:05Look, I hope your listeners understand very well that it is not ethical for a foreign minister to prejudge, to presume what presidents might or might not discuss.
23:27But you think it would be good for the two leaders to meet soon?
23:30Do you expect that that's what Amway Witkoff is negotiating?
23:33We're always in favor of meeting with people who are ready for a dialogue.
23:39President Putin repeated this thousands of times.
23:43And when we met, when we met in every yet, together with President Putin's foreign policy advisor, Ushakov, with Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, the American colleagues clearly stated that the U.S. policy is based firmly on U.S. national interests.
24:05They understand that the Russian policy led by President Putin is also based on Russian national interests and that it is the responsibility of great powers to make sure that whenever those national interests do not coincide, and this is in most of the cases, this difference should not be allowed to degenerate into confrontation.
24:32And that's what dialogue is for.
24:35But they also added that when the national interests of two countries or more countries coincide, it would be stupid to miss an opportunity to translate this coincidence into some material mutually beneficial projects.
24:49And this is absolutely our position.
24:52You know that President Trump is coming up on 100 days in office and he has made clear his patience is wearing thin with the diplomacy here.
25:02Do you expect the U.S. and Russia to continue to talk after these potential peace talks fall apart?
25:13I mean, is the rebuilding of the relationship so significant now that you think it could withstand the peace talks in Ukraine falling apart?
25:25First, Russia is always available for dialogue, so you have to address your question to the American side.
25:32Second, you prejudge the current process by saying that eventual collapse of the talks.
25:44We concentrate on doing business, not on thinking, you know, failures or victories about anything.
25:54Unless you concentrate on defects, that's what we do.
25:57You cannot be serious about what you are doing.
26:02Well, President Trump and Secretary Rubio said that the window was closing, that time is running out here.
26:08That's not my opinion.
26:09That's what they said.
26:11I want to ask you a little.
26:13Go ahead.
26:14Wait a second.
26:15I just quoted Marco Rubio, who yesterday said about better understanding of the Russian position, so maybe you missed that.
26:26Well, he also said a decision in days needed to be made and that the U.S. has other things to focus on.
26:34We understand.
26:35We understand the impatience because in American culture, you create expectations and you ignite tension around those expectations.
26:48This does not help to do real politics.
26:51But in our case, as I said, we are always ready for dialogue, ready for negotiations.
26:58And we would not, you know, begin by banking on a failure.
27:06This would be a characteristic of bad dealmakers, inexperienced dealmakers.
27:15Others in the Russian government have proposed that the U.S. and Russia could work together in the Arctic.
27:21Are there specific areas of discussion for cooperating right now?
27:28You always want me to disclose things.
27:33Well, this was a public statement.
27:35Things, things, things which might be, might be discussed by respective officials of Russia and the United States, by those who are responsible for trade, economic cooperation,
27:50investments, and so on and so forth.
27:53How do you expect a participant of negotiations which are still to reach some kind of specific understanding to disclose details in public?
28:05It is not serious.
28:06I'm just asking what you think the potential is.
28:09I read President Trump's book, The Art to Make a Deal.
28:13And he doesn't advise to disclose information before, before it's time.
28:20Respectfully, President Trump speaks quite a lot about the things he would like to do with Russia and opportunities to work together.
28:28I understand you don't want to.
28:30On the specific things President Trump has said in public, one of the things he brought up is that the U.S. could work with Ukraine to operate the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which is in an area, you know, Zaporizhia.
28:45Russians control that area right now.
28:48Do you agree with President Trump's public statements that the best security would be for the U.S. and Ukraine to operate that together?
28:56No, we never received such an offer.
29:00And if we do, we would explain that the power station, Zaporizhia nuclear power station, is run by the Russian Federation state corporation called Rosatom.
29:15It is being under monitoring of the IAA personnel permanently located on the site.
29:24And if not for the Ukrainian regular attempts to attack the station and to create a nuclear disaster for Europe and for Ukraine as well, the safety requirements are fully implemented.
29:45And it is in very good hands.
29:52So that's a no.
29:55No, I don't think.
29:56I don't think any change is conceivable.
30:00Okay.
30:01Because that was in a public statement from the White House to the media.
30:05We, as I said, we did not receive any proposal which would be specific.
30:14So, you know, I understand that journalists have to speculate.
30:17We cannot speculate on something which is really not being mentioned during the negotiations.
30:26Zaporizhia is not being negotiated right now.
30:32Shall I said it for the third time?
30:36You wanted me to be brief.
30:37Well, I'm trying to reconcile public statements.
30:39You wanted me to be brief.
30:40I heard you, but I just want to be abundantly clear, because that is also widely reported to be in the U.S. proposal currently on the table.
30:49Why don't you ask me about President Trump's position on Crimea?
30:56You liked what President Trump said about Crimea yesterday when he said that it has been under Russian control since 2014?
31:03It's not about liking or disliking.
31:06It's about the fact that he said the truth.
31:09So he said something specific you liked?
31:12And when Zelensky said that this is absolutely excluded because Crimea is part of Ukraine, according to the Constitution, nobody in Europe or in the States, by the way, reminded him that apart from territorial issues,
31:33the Ukrainian constitution guarantees, I quote, the free development, the use and protection of the Russian and other national minorities language in Ukraine.
31:47And they guarantee the development of ethnic, cultural, language and religious identity of all peoples and national minorities in Ukraine.
31:59This is also in the Constitution.
32:01But as I mentioned already, and you decided not to go deeper into this topic, nobody in the West even mentions human rights when they demand that Ukraine defeat Russia in the battlefield.
32:18President Trump said Crimea is not even being discussed right now.
32:22Yes, because this is a done deal.
32:26You mean Russia occupies and controls and will not negotiate the future of Crimea?
32:32Is that what you're saying?
32:34Russia do not negotiate its own territory.
32:39And President Trump understands this.
32:41So that's one specific thing that you do want in the public space.
32:45You said everything else that I've asked you about in the U.S. proposal is too sensitive to discuss.
32:51Is there any other part of the U.S. proposal that you do like?
32:56No, no, no.
32:57I only commented what was what was said publicly.
33:01And I also said that normal negotiators, I emphasize this once again, normal negotiators do not negotiate through a microphone.
33:13They meet and they discuss.
33:15They listen to each other.
33:16They try to understand.
33:17They try to see where a balance of interest can be reached.
33:21And this is how our contacts with the American representatives are organized.
33:26Respectfully, you've been in the top levels of Russian diplomacy for 30 years.
33:31For how many?
33:32This isn't for at least 30 years.
33:35I mean, you've been in very key diplomatic roles within the top of the Russian diplomatic system for a very, very long time.
33:41I don't think any part of this is typical or normal, to use the word you used.
33:47Steve Wyckoff is the envoy.
33:50Kirill Dmitriev is Vladimir Putin's envoy here.
33:53Do you think it's unfortunate that the international system of diplomacy isn't being used more and that it's this kind of one-on-one personal envoy structure?
34:05You did not express your disappointment that the international system of diplomacy was not used for the entire duration of the Biden administration.
34:18You did not mention that Europeans are really very nervous that they are being marginalized.
34:30But I can quote a lot of what Europeans stated.
34:35I mentioned already Kaya Cowas and Ursula von der Leyen, who said any deal must make sure that Ukraine is stronger and that Ukraine is on top of Russia.
34:47Look, do you need negotiators who believe in this kind of logic and who don't want to look for honest balance of interest?
34:55The Trump administration is interested in searching for a balance of interest.
35:02They sincerely want to understand better the Russian position and they're getting this understanding.
35:08And we understand better the American position through negotiations and meetings and discussions which we have with them.
35:17Back in January, Russia signed a deal with Iran to become a strategic partner.
35:24Would Russia be willing to sever that relationship at the request of the U.S. if it meant better relations with America?
35:31There was never any request like this. And we welcome the process which was initiated between the United States and Iran.
35:39We are ready to be helpful if parties believe this can be the case. And they know this.
35:47You were the negotiator back in 2015 on behalf of Russia for that landmark international agreement, the JCPOA.
35:57And part of how Russia was helpful was destroying Iran's enriched nuclear material. Is that an offer you would do again?
36:06Again?
36:07We were not involved in destroying Iran's nuclear material.
36:11Disposing?
36:12The part of the deal was to move some amount of this material to Russia for keeping.
36:27Okay. So not destroying, but keeping. Would you keep Iran's enriched nuclear material that they've made in the past few years?
36:35I said, I said, I said, I said, we are not putting our nose in the negotiations between two countries, one of which is not Russia.
36:47And I said very clearly, I believe, but you wanted a brief answer. I will have to be longer, since it is not probably getting through.
36:58But if we welcome the dialogue between the U.S. and Iran, we would be certainly ready to help if both parties believe this is going to be useful.
37:08And they know that we are ready.
37:10Mm-hmm. Well, back then there were sanctions and pressure at the UN. It's a very different dynamic now.
37:17I want to ask you quickly about nuclear weapons, because Russia is such a nuclear powerhouse. According to U.S. intelligence, Russia is developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon, which would knock out other satellites and devastate the U.S. if it's used.
37:36That's in publicly published material. Does Russia intend to violate past treaties and actually put a nuclear weapon in space?
37:46Well, before asking this question, you have to check whether this is true or not, what your military-
37:52This is what U.S. intelligence says.
37:54U.S. intelligence, I was listening to President Trump about his views of what is the list of achievements of U.S. intelligence, and I have my own facts on which I rely.
38:14We have been promoting for many years in the United Nations a resolution prohibiting putting any nuclear weapons into outer space.
38:29The country which is categorically against it is the United States.
38:34At the same time, the United States promotes an approach according to which they want to prohibit putting conventional weapons into outer space.
38:51And they cannot answer the question, does this mean that nuclear weapons, they would be planning to move to the orbit?
39:00So, my answer is very clear. We have been championing in the United Nations a legal prohibition of placing any nuclear weapons in outer space.
39:15And the United States, at least during the Biden administration, this was the case. They were categorically against it.
39:24It was the Trump administration's intelligence community that published those findings just a few weeks ago.
39:30Are you saying the Trump administration's intelligence community findings are incorrect in regard to Russia developing a new satellite meant to carry a nuclear weapon?
39:39We denied those allegations. We, once again, cannot help repeating, have been promoting for years in the United Nations a treaty, not a declaration, a treaty prohibiting placing weapons in outer space.
39:58And the United States is against it. I cannot comment about the validity of the intelligence reports, as I told you.
40:07We never received any facts which would confirm the allegations.
40:14Do you have any interest in arms control talks with the United States, with the Trump administration?
40:21It was the United States which broke the process of strengthening strategic stability.
40:33And as if the United States is willing to get back to this track, we would see what are the conditions under which this might be possible.
40:47As long as in the U.S. doctrinal documents, doctrinal documents, we are described as adversary when the officials in Washington called some time ago called us enemy.
41:06So we want to understand what Washington thinks of our relationship and whether Washington is ready for, I would emphasize once again, an equal mutually respectful dialogue heading to finding a balance of interest.
41:26If this is the approach, everything is possible.
41:29Minister, we are coming up on time, but just before I let you go, from everything you laid out, I haven't heard from you that Russia is willing to make any concession on anything to date.
41:52And my brief answer is you are wrong.
41:55What concessions has Russia offered?
41:57Wait a second, wait a second, please.
41:59I have been emphasizing repeatedly in relation to Ukraine, in relation to strategic relations with the United States, I have been emphasizing our readiness to seek balance of interests.
42:13If this is not what your station considers readiness for negotiations, then I don't know how to be even less eloquent in trying to be brief in my answers.
42:32Well, there have been very clear, specific things said by the Trump administration, such as the vice president saying that the current lines of contact in Ukraine would freeze and end up fairly close to where troops are right now.
42:49Do you actually consider that a concession?
42:51I don't discuss publicly the details of what is being subject of negotiations.
43:00I understand that you love rumors, because rumors are played around.
43:04The vice president of the United States said it on camera.
43:14Was it a question?
43:16What did you say?
43:17Well, rumor, rumor.
43:18You said it was a rumor.
43:19The vice president said it.
43:21Perhaps you missed it.
43:22No, I said about us.
43:24We are not discussing things which are subject to negotiations.
43:31Okay.
43:32Minister Lavrov, thank you for your time this morning.