MOSCOW, Jan 19, 2024 (BSS/TASS) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has never once threatened to use a nuclear bomb, unlike the West, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his annual news conference devoted to reviewing Moscow's main foreign policy achievements in 2023.

Lavrov was asked whether the situation in the world was going the way of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The minister responded that this topic has recently popped up "on various talk shows and political roundtables."

"I see several players here. If those in charge of policy in the West could each speak out independently, I think the situation would be different, but they are all brought into line. They were brought into line by the Americans, but also to a very large extent by the British. I gave examples about London literally goading Zelensky to bomb any sites in any part of the Russian Federation," he said.

Lavrov also pointed to statements by some former high-ranking US military officials, including Ben Hodges, former commander of the US army in Europe. According to the minister, "they say, 'We have to destroy all conditions for life in Crimea so that there is no Russian fleet there, no one.'"

"This is what they said quite recently," he said.

"It would be interesting to poke around in the heads of these people," Lavrov continued. "I would just like to see: Are they rabble rousers, or do they think we will go weak at the knees?"

No one has tried to rein them in, Lavrov lamented.

"All they say is that Putin is threatening to use a nuclear bomb, even though no such thing has ever been uttered, in contrast to the Europeans or the Americans," he said.

The minister also highlighted statements by some European politicians who threatened Russia, and advised them to remember the wise words of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

"The Germans said - repeatedly - that Putin should know that we, NATO, also have nuclear weapons. The British used to have a lady prime minister who said: 'I will not hesitate to push the button.' But no one should try to scare us - and many people know that. They should read Churchill more often: He has a quote about the Russian bear and how it should be treated," Lavrov said.