This is blackmail, it is an attempt to create an impression that the West wants to avoid excessive escalation, but in fact this is a ruse,” Lavrov said. Then he said, “The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West is asking for trouble, to put it bluntly. I reckon that this is already obvious to everyone.”

Then Lavrov said, “For a long time, we have been hearing these speculations about allowing the use of not only Storm Shadow, but also US long-range missiles…”

And he said, “We will repeat that playing with fire – and they are like children playing with matches – is a very dangerous thing to do for grown-ups who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country,” Lavrov said…

WtR