‘Don’t joke about our red lines,’ Russia warns US

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently warned the United States not to joke about Russia’s red lines.

In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) by WarTranslated—an independent media project that translates materials about the war into English—on Wednesday, a Russian TV interviewer asked Lavrov about a recent Reuters report that the U.S. may supply Ukraine with long-range weapons.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing U.S. officials, that Washington is close to an agreement to give Kyiv long-range cruise missiles that could reach deep into Russia where its key military infrastructure is located. If an agreement is reached, Ukraine would reportedly still need to wait several months for the weapons to arrive due to technical issues that would need to be worked out ahead of a shipment.

“Americans already stepped over the line that they set up,” Lavrov told the reporter, per WarTranslated. “They’re joking about our red lines. Don’t joke about our red lines. They perfectly know where they are.”

Lavrov accused the major political parties in America of a power struggle that could lead to issues abroad.

“The obsession in the fight for power for Democrats to appear cooler than Republicans or vice versa, at least now—it’s leading to more and more escalation,” Lavrov said. “I’m confident there are sensible people there who have an influence, and I hope the interests of the USA will be considered,” later adding that “hawkishness” toward Russia appears to be a grab for votes in the upcoming election.

The foreign minister also said that the idea of mutual deterrence between the U.S. and Russia—which has maintained security between the two countries post-Cold War—”is starting to fade” for Americans and said it is “dangerous.”

Three sources told Reuters in Tuesday’s report that, while nothing is set in stone, the U.S. is expected to announce this fall that Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) will be part of a weapons package.

Western countries, including the U.S., have already crossed so-called red lines made by Russia, and relations between Washington and Moscow have only grown colder as the U.S. continues to supply Ukraine with weapons. The U.S. has given over $55.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the Eastern European country in February 2022.

In Lavrov’s interview, he mentioned previous comments made by White House national security adviser John Kirby about the U.S. not wanting World War III.

Kirby said in June that a major escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war could have “disastrous consequences, potentially, across the European continent” and would be bad for U.S. interests.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Tass, a Russian state news agency, on Wednesday that there is “clear intent” to make changes to the nuclear doctrine, adding that the decision is “connected to our Western adversaries’ escalation course” amid the Russia-Ukriane war.