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Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov used his tackle to the United Nations Basic Meeting (UGNA) on Saturday to ship one among Moscow’s starkest warnings but to the West, accusing NATO and the European Union of waging a “actual struggle” in opposition to Russia.
Lavrov opened with sweeping historic references to World Battle II, positioning Russia because the inheritor to the Soviet Union’s function in defeating Nazism and defending international sovereignty. He accused the U.S. of dismantling these postwar rules via interventions in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, and warned that the identical was taking place at this time within the Center East.
Whereas condemning Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, assault, Lavrov mentioned Israel’s marketing campaign in Gaza amounted to “collective punishment” of civilians, linking the battle to what he portrayed as a long time of unchecked Western use of pressure.
Lavrov accused NATO of ignoring a long time of safety commitments. He insisted Russia has “by no means had and doesn’t have” plans to assault NATO nations, calling Western warnings of a Russian offensive “provocations.”
Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the United Nations Basic Meeting on Saturday, issuing one among Moscow’s starkest warnings to the West but. (Russian Overseas Ministry Press Service telegram channel through AP)
He singled out claims by European leaders as “false portrayals” of Moscow’s intentions, echoing President Vladimir Putin’s denials that Russia plans to strike NATO or EU territory. On the identical time, Lavrov issued a direct risk: “Any aggression in opposition to my nation will probably be met with a decisive response. There ought to be little question about this amongst these in NATO and the EU.”
The warning comes amid heightened pressure alongside NATO’s japanese flank. Estonia lately accused Russian jets of violating its airspace, and NATO forces shot down drones over Poland. The U.S. responded by telling the U.N. Safety Council it will “defend each inch of NATO territory.” In opposition to this backdrop, Lavrov’s speech underscored Moscow’s effort to border any conflict with NATO as an existential risk to Russia itself.
The timing additionally intersects with a shift in U.S. rhetoric. President Donald Trump, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week, has hardened his tone on the struggle – telling reporters that Ukraine can and ought to reclaim all its territory.
President Trump has additionally embraced firmer rhetoric on the struggle. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures)
That marks a departure from earlier indicators of openness to negotiation, greater than a month after U.S. and Russian officers held uncommon talks in Alaska. Lavrov’s UN tackle appeared calibrated to counter Trump’s new line, reminding Washington that Moscow sees the struggle not as a distant battle however as a direct confrontation involving america.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, in his personal tackle to the Basic Meeting, warned that failing to cease Russia now would unleash “probably the most harmful arms race ever.”
Lavrov strengthened his message at a press convention after the speech, responding to a query about Western calls to shoot down Russian plane that may violate European airspace. He dismissed Trump’s earlier comment that Russia was a “paper tiger,” noting that the president had already walked it again.
He then issued a stark warning: “If there are makes an attempt to down any flying object … over our territory, in our airspace, then I feel individuals will very a lot remorse it, enterprise such an egregious violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning of his personal earlier than the Basic Meeting: failure to cease Russia now will result in “probably the most harmful arms race ever.” (Spencer Platt/Getty Pictures)
Lavrov additionally took purpose at U.S. sanctions on Iran, blasting Western efforts to revive or tighten restrictions as “unlawful” and proof of what he described as Washington’s technique of “blackmail and stress.”
He mentioned the West had sabotaged diplomatic choices to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and rejected what he known as manipulations on the U.N. Safety Council to isolate Tehran.
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Past Europe, Lavrov portrayed Russia as aligned with a rising “international majority” in opposition to Western dominance, pointing to BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Group, and African and Latin American requires higher illustration on the U.N. Safety Council.
He accused Washington of utilizing sanctions and army blocs to protect hegemony, whereas claiming Russia was defending sovereignty for nations throughout the International South.
