Russia’s top diplomat has accused NATO and the European Union of declaring war on Russia and using Ukraine to wage it, prompting pushback from Western diplomats and NATO leaders, who called the claim a distortion of reality and say it is Moscow that has “brought war back to Europe.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks to fellow diplomats at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 25. Lavrov accused Western powers of trampling on the U.N. Charter out of “neocolonial ambitions,” leading to increased global instability and regional conflicts.
“Another clear example is the crisis in Ukraine provoked by the West, through which NATO and the EU have already declared a real war on my country and are directly involved in it,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov and other Russian diplomats have made similar remarks in the past, accusing NATO powers of seeking to establish Ukraine as a bulwark against Russia on its border, and of expanding the defensive military alliance ever closer to Moscow, which the Kremlin finds threatening.
NATO has repeatedly denied any hostile intentions with respect to Russia, instead accusing Moscow of seeking to expand its regional sphere of influence through aggression.
“Russia has brought war back to Europe and has teamed up with China, North Korea, and Iran to expand their capabilities and their ability to exert influence,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said during a Sept. 25 speech to cadets at West Point.
“But history shows that North America and Europe working together is a winning combination. Our adversaries know this.
“Our enduring commitment to NATO’s Article 5—that an attack on one is an attack on all—sends a powerful message.
“Any aggressor must know that we can—and will—hit back harder.”
At the United Nations meeting where Lavrov spoke, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper responded to the Russian diplomat’s remarks with criticism.
“No amount of false fantasy world distortions, misinformation, and propaganda from the Russian representative about the causes of the war will convince anyone,” she said, while condemning what she called Russia’s “unprovoked war of aggression” against Ukraine.
Since Russian forces launched their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they have managed to take control of roughly 20 percent of the country, but there are no signs the war is drawing to a close.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged world powers to put pressure on Russia to stop.
“There are no signs that Russia’s goal of subjugating Ukraine has changed,” she said.
In his remarks, Lavrov made no reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week, in which the president said that Ukraine should go on the offensive against Russia and reclaim all occupied territories.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, 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,” Trump wrote in a Sept. 23 post on Truth Social, adding that “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
Trump also called Russia a “paper tiger,” pointing to Russia’s failure to win the war swiftly.
Those remarks drew a critical response from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who bristled at Trump’s characterization.
“Russia is hardly a tiger,” Peskov told Russia’s RBC Radio, according to a Moscow Times translation. “It’s more often associated with a bear. And there’s no such thing as a paper bear. Russia is a real bear.”
Peskov added that Russian forces have “no alternative” but to press forward with their war on Ukraine.
Trump’s post came shortly after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, during which reporters asked Trump whether he believes that a NATO nation should shoot down a Russian aircraft that enters its airspace, to which Trump replied, “Yes, I do.”
Estonia said last week that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had violated its airspace for 12 minutes before NATO aircraft were scrambled to intercept and escort the Russian warplanes out.
According to Russian state-run news agency TASS, Peskov reacted to Trump’s remarks by saying on Sept. 26 that “statements that Russian aircraft should be shot down are, to say the least, reckless, irresponsible, and certainly dangerous in their consequences.”
The Kremlin spokesperson also denied airspace violations, describing the accusations as “groundless” in a recorded interview.
“No convincing evidence has been presented,” Peskov said. “We insist that our warplanes perform all flights in strict accordance with international norms.”
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