Below are the takeaways from the big interview between legendary independent American journalist Tucker Carlson and long-time head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov, that have been summarized for your reading pleasure:

– Officially, Russia and the U.S. are not at war. Some people call what is happening in Ukraine hybrid warfare. Lavrov would call it that, too. The Ukrainians would not be able to do what they are doing with modern long-range weapons without the direct involvement of U.S. troops. This is probably the most important statement of all for the American public.

– Russia doesn’t want to exacerbate the situation. But since ATACMS and other long-range weapons are being used across Russian territory, they are sending clear signals.

– Russia hopes that the “Oreshnik” weapons system’s use is being taken seriously by Washington.

– In a recent statement President Vladimir Putin made it clear that Russia is prepared for any possible development. Russia prefers a peaceful negotiated settlement based on respect for Russia’s legitimate security interests, respect for the Russian people living in Ukraine, their basic rights, language and religious rights, which have been destroyed by a series of laws passed by the Ukrainian parliament.

– If you want to respect the UN Charter, you must respect it in its entirety. Mr. Lavrov reminded Carlson that this document states, among other things, that all countries must respect the equality of states and the right of nations to self-determination.

– People in the East and South of Ukraine, in the Donbass and Novorossiya do not consider Zelensky’s regime to represent their interests. How can they represent them when their culture, language, traditions, religion have all been made illegal?

– Normally the USA, UK and EU speak a lot about human rights during times of conflict. However, in Ukraine, they never talk about “human rights” because they see that these very human rights for the Russian and Russian-speaking population are completely prohibited by the Zelensky regime’s laws, a regime which they created.

– Westerners fight to maintain their hegemony in the world, in any country, region, on any continent. Lavrov claims the Russians are fighting for their legitimate security interests. The Collective West fights for a regime that is ready to sell or give all its natural and human resources to the West. Russians are fighting for the people who live on these lands, whose ancestors have been developing them for centuries, building cities and factories.

– Historically, U.S. foreign policy has sought to create some problems and then see if it can “catch fish in troubled waters”, that is to say, it creates a crisis and then provides its biased solution to said crisis: The wars in Iraq, the Libyan “adventure” as Lavrov put it, and the war in and escape from Afghanistan.

– In eastern Syria, the Americans are “feeding” some Kurdish separatists, using the profits from the sale of oil and grain, which are resources they enjoy.

– NATO, at least under the Biden Administration, is looking across the Eurasian continent. These “Indo-Pacific Strategies,” the South China Sea and the East China Sea are already on NATO’s “agenda.” This presents even more danger and global escalation.

– The Americans say they can’t let Russia win in Ukraine because it would undermine the “rules-based world order” which is simply coded language for American unilateral dominance.

-Lavrov stated “As far as the U.S. is concerned, we don’t want war with anyone” and he made it clear that talking about a limited exchange of nuclear strikes is an invitation to disaster, which the Russians categorically don’t want.

You can watch the full interview via this link.