Moscow: Russia does not intend to attack anyone in Europe, but its response to any strike will be devastating, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday, noting the EU’s “war party” has become a stumbling block in Ukraine peace efforts.
Lavrov’s warning came on a day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“My message for European politicians who seem to have problems getting to grips with this fact is to repeat one more time that there is no need to be afraid of Russia attacking anyone,” Lavrov said in an interview with state-run news agency TASS.
“However, should anyone consider attacking Russia, they would face a devastating blow,” Lavrov added.
As Zelenskyy is set to meet Trump with his peace plan backed by key European powers, who, according to media reports, insist on the deployment of European troops as part of security guarantees for Kiev, Lavrov said they will be a ‘legitimate target’ for Russia.
“Whether leaders like (EU chief) Ursula von der Leyen, (German Chancellor) Friedrich Merz, (UK prime minister) Keir Starmer and (French President) Emmanuel Macron and the like have reached a point of no return is hard to say.
“We do see that so far, the European war party has been investing its political capital in inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, and is ready to go the whole nine yards,” the Russian minister said.
“I would like to place a special emphasis on the fact that these actions on their behalf were totally illegitimate. After all, Russia has never taken the initiative to target its European neighbours with unfriendly actions,” Lavrov stated.
He said Russia appreciates efforts by President Trump and his team to achieve a peace settlement. Moscow is committed to continuing to work with the American negotiators to devise lasting agreements for addressing the conflict’s root causes, he added.
After Trump came to power, Europe and the European Union emerged as the main stumbling block to peace, he said. “They are making no secret of the fact that they are getting ready to fight it out with Russia on the battlefield.”
In another report, TASS quoted Lavrov as saying that Moscow will fully back Beijing on Taiwan in the event of a heightened conflict, as the West views it as a tool of military-strategic deterrence against China.
“As for the possible escalation in the Taiwan Strait, the procedure for acting in such situations is set forth in the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation with the People’s Republic of China of July 16, 2001.
“One of the basic principles of that document is mutual support in defending national unity and territorial integrity,” Lavrov pointed out.
“Taiwan is currently used as a tool of military-strategic deterrence against the PRC. This is also a matter of pursuing vested interests: some in the West are keen to profit from Taiwanese money and technologies,” Lavrov underscored.
