The West is 'directly at war with us': Russian Foreign Minister
Lavrov's focus was on Ukraine’s Western backers and NATO as he warned he considered the US, UK and others to be “directly at war" with Russia due to the military assistance provided to Kyiv
In the wake of a week dominated by discussions about Russia's Ukraine conflict at the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the delegates on Saturday and later held a press briefing, expressing strong criticism of the West, which he considers to be "directly at war with".
"In the speeches of many speakers who spoke before me, the idea was already voiced that our common planet is undergoing irreversible changes, and a new world order is being born before our eyes," Lavrov said.
"The contours of the future are being created in the struggle between the world majority, who advocate a more equitable distribution of global wealth and civilizational diversity, and those few who use neocolonial methods of subjugation to maintain their elusive dominance."
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According to CNN, Lavrov's focus was on Ukraine's Western backers and NATO – a mutual defence organisation formed in the aftermath of World War II to defend Western nations from the Soviet Union. He warned on Saturday that he considered the US, UK, and others to be "directly at war with us" due to the military assistance provided to Kyiv.
"We can call this a hybrid war, but that doesn't change the reality," Lavrov told journalists, adding, "They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us, using the Ukrainians as fodder."
He stated that the peace framework proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is "not feasible" as the plan does not contemplate ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia or abandoning Kyiv's efforts to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, says CNN.
When asked about the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian Foreign Minister revealed that the Kremlin felt deceived, and Russia has no plans to return to the deal.
"The main reason why we left this deal and it ceased to exist is that everything that was promised to us turned out to be a deception," Lavrov said.
Back in July, Russia terminated its participation in the UN-facilitated accord that had allowed Ukraine to export grain by sea, bypassing a Russian blockade to reach global markets.
Ukraine has advocated for the removal of Russia's Security Council veto privileges and its expulsion from the organisation for breaching a fundamental tenet of the UN – violating the territorial sovereignty of a fellow member state.
