Unnamed Pentagon officials have effectively threatened to strike the Kremlin with a “decapitation blow,” which could mean the physical removal of the Russian president.  The top Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov made this statement in an interview with TASS on December 27.

According to him, the West’s policy aimed at containing Russia is extremely dangerous and bears the risk of a direct armed clash of nuclear powers.

“Washington went the furthest: there, some “unnamed officials” from the Pentagon actually threatened to inflict a “decapitation blow” on the Kremlin, in fact, we are talking about the threat of the physical elimination of the head of the Russian state.  If such ideas are actually hatched by someone, this someone should think very carefully about the possible consequences of such plans,” Mr. Lavrov said.

He also noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “has agreed to demand preventive nuclear strikes by NATO countries against Russia.”  Russian foreign minister further added that there can be no winners in a nuclear war, “and it must never be unleashed.”

“We note with deep concern the propaganda bacchanalia in the United States and in the West in general around the topic of nuclear weapons,” Sergei Lavrov said.

"The actions by the collective West and their puppet [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky confirm the global nature of the Ukrainian crisis.  It is no secret that the strategic goal of the US and its NATO allies is to win a victory over Russia on the battlefield as a mechanism of weakening or even destroying our country," Lavrov said.  "Our opponents will just do about anything to achieve this goal," he added.

According to Russia’s top diplomat, the beneficiary of a ‘hot conflict’ is the United States who has been seeking to get the most out of it both economically and strategically. "Washington has also been solving a key geopolitical goal of breaking the traditional bonds between Russia and Europe and making their European satellites even more dependent on them," Lavrov emphasized.