‘Nato and EU have declared war on Russia,’ says Kremlin’s foreign minister
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Nato and the European Union (EU) have ‘declared war’ on Russia, one of Moscow’s most powerful politicians said today.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin’s meat-grinding war in Ukraine is the fault of the meddling West.
Speaking at a G20 meeting this afternoon, Lavrov said that if the UN charter is not followed, ‘global instability’ and ‘regional conflicts’ follow.
The 1945 charter, which Russia has been repeatedly accused of ignoring, says UN members must work to end ‘the scourge of war’.
Lavrov pointed to how Western colonial powers carved Africa’s borders ‘without any concern for nationality’.
He was quoted by the Russian news agency Tass as saying: ‘A clear example is the crisis in Ukraine, provoked by the collective West, through whose hands Nato and the EU want to declare, have already declared, a real war on my country and are directly participating in it.’
The top diplomat also blamed Western powers for the growing escalation of violence and tension in the Middle East.
‘The unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has already claimed the lives of 65,000 people, and some UN officials working in the Middle East say there are estimates that the death toll is 10 times higher,’ he said.
‘None of Israel’s neighbours can feel safe,’ Lavrov added, appearing to allude to Israel’s attacks on Iran, Qatar and Yemen.
‘We see this every day.’
Lavrov made the remarks after flying to New York for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly today.
He had a closed-door meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss how to resolve the three-year-long Ukraine war.
Lavrov, according to Russian state media, told Rubio that the conflict has been ‘dragged on’ thanks to ‘schemes promoted by Kyiv and certain Europeamn capitals’.
He left the meeting while giving a thumbs-up gesture to journalists.
The US, however, struck a slightly different tone, saying Rubio ‘ reiterated President Trump’s call to end the killings and emphasised the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a lasting Russian-Ukrainian settlement’.
US President Trump abruptly reversed his stance on the war yesterday, writing on his platform, Truth Social, that Ukraine can ‘win’.
The head-spinning U-turn came after Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York.
Despite repeatedly saying that a peace deal would likely involve Kyiv giving up land to Russia, Trump now insisted: ‘I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.’
‘I wish both Countries well,’ he finished.
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