The United States threatened to behead Russia's President Putin, his foreign minister Lavrov says. US President Biden should therefore not expect any good news from the Kremlin for the New Year. Chancellor Scholz will also get nothing - in contrast to a predecessor.
According to the Kremlin, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not receive New Year's greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We have no contact with them," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "And given the constant unkind acts they undertake, the President will not send them greetings." Putin does not get any of the three politicians either.
The Russian head of state has already wished other top politicians a Happy New Year 2023. According to the Kremlin, Putin also sent his good wishes to two former heads of government: former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
According to a list, Putin also sent greetings to the heads of state and government in China, Turkey, India, Venezuela and Syria. Of the European heads of state, only Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko received New Year's greetings from the Kremlin.
According to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia sees the USA above all as supposed warmongers among the western states. Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of alleged plans to assassinate Kremlin chief Putin. "Unnamed officials" from the Pentagon threatened to "decapitate" Russia, Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian state agency TASS. "In fact, it's about the threat of the physical elimination of the Russian head of state," the Russian chief diplomat claimed - without citing any evidence.
The strategic goal of the United States and its allies in NATO is a "victory over Russia on the battlefield" in order to weaken or even destroy Russia, Lavrov said. Moscow's opponents are "ready to do too much" to achieve this. "The main beneficiaries of this 'burning conflict' are the United States, which wants to get the maximum benefit from it, both in the economic and military-strategic spheres," Lavrov said. Washington is also pursuing another geopolitical goal - the destruction of Russia's traditional ties with Europe.
