Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, has accused the West of directly supplying Ukraine with weapons and training its soldiers in the conflict there.
During a Thursday video call with reporters, Lavrov stated, “You should not say that the US and NATO aren’t taking part in this war, you are directly participating in it.”
“As well as by training personnel in addition to providing weapons. On your territory, as well as the territories of Britain, Germany, Italy, and other nations, you are instructing their military.”
In addition, the Russian foreign minister stated that Moscow’s strikes on energy facilities and other crucial infrastructure in Ukraine, which have left millions without power, heat, or water, were intended to derail Western weapons shipments and weaken Ukraine’s military potential.
He went on to say that “knock out energy facilities that allow you to keep pumping deadly weapons into Ukraine in order to kill the Russians” was the goal of the barrage of Russian missile strikes.
Lavrov stated, “The infrastructure that is targeted by those attacks is used to ensure the armed forces of Ukraine and the nationalist battalions’ combat potential.”
The West and Ukraine have been claiming that Russia is targeting vital civilian infrastructure with the intention of lowering morale and forcing Ukraine into peace talks on Moscow’s terms.
In the meantime, Lavrov insisted that Moscow remained open to negotiations to end the conflict. Lavrov stated, “We have never requested talks, but we have always said that we are prepared to listen to those who are interested in a negotiated settlement.”
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‘Reckless enlargement of NATO’
The Western world was also criticized by the Russian foreign minister for its “reckless enlargement of NATO” and for assuming that everyone would follow the “rules of liberal democracy.”
Lavrov gave a speech on Thursday ahead of the annual meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, which will be held in Lodz, Poland, this year.
He made the accusation of the West of hindering Russia’s influence in Europe and elsewhere at the beginning of a news conference in Russia, citing the “reckless expansion” of NATO as evidence.
Lavrov stated, “In 1991, 16 countries were members of NATO; now there are 30, with Sweden and Finland on the verge of joining.”
He went on to say that the West was counting on Russia to not regain its position in Europe or the world, adding, “They want to keep Russians out of Europe, they have the whole Europe under their control.”
He claimed that the OSCE had developed significant issues and accused the United States of passing up the opportunity to build a real bridge with Russia following the Cold War.
According to Lavrov, “the West has been trying for many years too, if you like, privatize it” by taking advantage of its numerical superiority in this organization.
Lavrov went on to say, “Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say it is trying to carry out a takeover raid on the OSCE, to subjugate this last platform for regional dialogue.”
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Russia’s OSCE membership
Foreign ministers from 57 of the participating states gather at the OSCE session to examine and evaluate the organization’s activities and improve the dialogue on security issues.
“Kept delivering on a range of topics throughout our region & is back in Ukraine to support the country & its people,” OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid tweeted on Wednesday.
However, in light of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned Russia’s OSCE membership last week.
“We see various international platforms finding the necessary solutions to help stop Russian terror, isolate the terrorist state as much as possible, and find a way out of the brutal global crises created by Russia,” Zelenskyy stated. “We see various international platforms finding the necessary solutions.”
“However, why is OSCE still absent from these platforms? Why, specifically, is a terrorist state still a member of your Parliamentary Assembly despite nine months of continuous crimes?
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Source: TRT World
