"Budapest Remains Russia's Preferred Location for the Summit"
Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, has expressed his willingness to discuss issues related to the resumption of nuclear tests with the United States.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry and RIA Novosti, Minister Lavrov said in an interview with local Russian media on the 11th (local time), "We are ready to discuss the suspicions raised by the United States that we might be secretly conducting something deep underground."
This is seen as an attempt to ease heightened nuclear tensions following Russia's tests last month of nuclear-powered weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads, such as the Burevestnik and Poseidon, and President Donald Trump's announcement of the resumption of nuclear weapons testing. Russia and the United States are the two countries with the largest nuclear arsenals in the world.
Previously, President Trump had announced plans to resume nuclear testing, citing the nuclear capabilities of Russia and China. In response, Minister Lavrov dismissed the claim, stating that Russia has not conducted nuclear tests since 1991, and emphasized that if any underground tests had been conducted, experts would have detected them through seismic monitoring systems. He also insisted that the United States must clarify exactly what President Trump meant. Additionally, he warned that if other nuclear-armed countries conduct nuclear tests, Russia would do the same.
Minister Lavrov said, "We are also prepared to discuss with our American colleagues the resumption of preparatory work for the Russia-U.S. summit proposed by the United States." He added that such discussions could resume if the United States suggests starting summit preparations.
On October 16, Russia and the United States had planned to prepare for a summit after Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump agreed during a phone call to meet in Budapest, Hungary. However, those discussions are currently on hold. Some sources claim that after a tense phone conversation between Minister Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding summit preparations, the United States canceled the meeting, citing Russia's stance on the Ukraine issue. In response, Minister Lavrov refuted this, stating that his conversation with Secretary Rubio was good and courteous, with no divisions at all.
He criticized the British media, saying that senior executives at the BBC had resigned over allegations of manipulating footage of President Trump's speech, and that the Financial Times had published maliciously false reports regarding his call with Secretary Rubio, accusing the British press of engaging in an information war. He also noted that while follow-up meetings between representatives of the foreign, defense, and intelligence ministries of both countries are expected, there has been no movement from the U.S. side to arrange such meetings yet.
Minister Lavrov explained that Budapest would be Russia's preferred location for the summit, and President Trump had also expressed agreement. He further stressed that the recent nuclear test issue and the cancellation of the Russia-U.S. summit are separate matters.
This was Minister Lavrov's first public appearance before the media in about two weeks. Since he was absent from the Russian National Security Council meeting presided over by President Putin on November 5, there had been speculation that he might have lost President Putin's trust due to the cancellation of the Russia-U.S. summit. However, Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, has repeatedly denied Western media reports regarding Minister Lavrov, stating they are completely untrue, and had previously said that Minister Lavrov would soon resume public activities.
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