Russia is not going to wage war against Ukraine but will respond in kind, if Kiev carries out a provocation on the border with Crimea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.
"We will not wage war against Ukraine, I promise you," the Russian foreign minister stressed.
Lavrov said the Russian and US intelligence services are currently maintaining a professional dialogue.
According to him, Moscow has never rejected professional dialogue with Washington in those areas, in which Russian "partners are ready to discuss the existing common threats and problems honestly and on an equitable basis."
"For one, our intelligence agencies have maintained contacts. A round of negotiations on fighting terrorism has been held after a long break," Russia’s top diplomat said.
"In a number of other areas, such as the Syrian settlement, the North Korean nuclear problem and Afghanistan, we have contacts, which do not always reveal coincidences, but which are fairly regular," Lavrov added.
He believes that Washington has always seen Moscow and Beijing as competitors, regardless of the presidential administration.
The Russian foreign minister reminded that during his presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump expressed his support for improving relations with Moscow. "However, of course, the United States see us, and China as well, by the way, as competitors, regardless of who is supporting friendly relations with Russia," the diplomat noted.
"The Russophobic campaign has brought nothing to Washington, and in recent weeks, US propagandists have actively embarked on China, making it the main hacker, who allegedly undermines the foundations of American society," TASS cited the Russian foreign minister as saying.
"It is unfortunate when the interests of the international community, global strategic stability and international security fall victim to domestic political strife. But we will be ready for dialogue even in these conditions," Lavrov stressed.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the risk of a direct war between Russia and NATO is minimal. "It's almost a zero risk, including because the American strategy of containing Russia has a sufficient number of other tools, and not just economic, social, informational and psychological ones, but also measures of military influence by proxies, for example, Ukraine. Therefore, if we talk about the risk of war, the risk of war against Ukraine is high enough, which, of course, will not be equivalent to a war with the West," he said.
