Europe preparing for confrontation with Russia, top diplomat alleges

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused European leaders of undermining prospects for a negotiated settlement in Ukraine while claiming that France privately seeks contacts with Moscow despite publicly criticizing such efforts.

Speaking at an ambassadorial roundtable on the situation surrounding Ukraine, Lavrov said that Europe was rejecting the possibility of equal negotiations and instead pursuing what he described as a policy of “historical revenge,” Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“The West’s attempts to achieve a historical revenge are obvious. For this purpose, Kyiv is allowed everything,” Lavrov said.

He argued that European governments continue to interfere in diplomatic efforts and dismiss opportunities for dialogue.

“When Europe literally pushes its assessments of negotiations, insisting on its own approaches and trampling on all the sprouts of common sense that the administration of Donald Trump demonstrated after returning to the White House, we have no illusions about the Europeans’ real plans,” he said.

Lavrov also accused European countries of derailing previous diplomatic initiatives.

“I have already mentioned how they disrupted the results of negotiations in 2014 and 2015. Today, both Britain and the countries of the European Union continue to pump Kyiv with weapons and money and encourage what are openly terrorist actions on its part,” he said.

The Russian foreign minister further alleged that European leaders were openly preparing for a potential confrontation with Russia.

“The current elites in Europe do not hide the fact that they are preparing for war with us in the near future. Timelines have even been mentioned — no later than 2030,” Lavrov said.

Commenting on US policy, Lavrov suggested that Washington was moving away from the role of a neutral mediator and continuing to increase sanctions pressure on Moscow.

“As far as one can judge, the United States seems to be abandoning claims to the role of an objective mediator and is following the same course of increasing sanctions pressure on Russia. In addition to extending all of Joe Biden’s sanctions, the administration of President Donald Trump has already adopted a substantial package of sanctions against Russia,” he said.

Despite what he described as efforts by Western governments to pressure Moscow, Lavrov maintained that Russia would achieve the objectives of its military campaign in Ukraine.

He reiterated Moscow’s long-standing position that Ukraine should adopt a neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear status, while emphasizing that Russia remains open to negotiations.

“Russia is prepared to speak with Ukraine, just as it has always been,” Lavrov said.

By Vafa Guliyeva