After several Western media outlets hyped the news that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has been sidelined, Lavrov made his first public interview with the media. According to TASS on November 8 local time, Lavrov told reporters that Russia has not received specific explanations from the U.S. side through diplomatic channels regarding President Trump's claim of "resuming nuclear tests."

Lavrov said: "It is not yet clear whether this refers to testing of nuclear weapon delivery systems, or so-called subcritical experiments (experiments that do not produce a sustained chain reaction, which do not violate relevant international conventions and are used to test the reliability and readiness of nuclear weapons), or whether Trump was referring to the U.S. intention to restart full-scale nuclear tests."

Lavrov concluded: "Public comments by U.S. representatives indicate that they do not have a unified understanding of the president's intentions." He also told reporters that the Russian Foreign Ministry has begun to implement the instructions issued by President Putin at the meeting of the Russian Security Council on November 5. At the meeting, Putin raised the possibility of comprehensive nuclear tests and instructed the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the FSB, and the civil agencies to propose recommendations for preparations for nuclear weapon tests.

Previously, media such as CNN and Reuters reported that Lavrov was absent from the Russian Security Council meeting on November 5, and the Russian Foreign Ministry had not disclosed Lavrov's travel plans and speech activities for the next week for two consecutive weeks, and commented that this meant "Lavrov has been sidelined" or "there may be a reshuffle within the Russian government." Both Kremlin spokesman Peskov and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zarakhova denied the speculation.

Lavrov TASS

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