Lavrov: West is fueling conflict in Ukraine

Photo: Russian MFA

The US, NATO and the EU, pumping weapons into Ukraine, significantly increase the threat of a direct military conflict between the nuclear powers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned, speaking at the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, Sputnik informs.

"Today, for the sake of saving their geopolitical project of containing Russia and dividing the Russian world, the United States, NATO and the European Union are pumping more and more advanced weapons into Ukraine, increasingly fueling the conflict and while simultaneously provoking the uncontrolled spread of weapons around the world... Their adventurous, irresponsible lines significantly raise the threat of a direct military clash between nuclear powers," Lavrov stressed.

Russia has sounded the alarm that the United States is gearing up to "derail" the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Lavrov revealed.

"Currently, a whole range of key agreements in the area of arms control and non-proliferation have been derailed by the United States. And they are poised now – apprehension here does exist – to attack a cornerstone element of the global security architecture, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Lavrov noted.

"In particular, we see that such risks are being created as a result of explicit attempts to exempt the Anglo-Saxon nuclear project within the framework of the new military bloc – AUKUS," the diplomacy chief explained.

In September 2021, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom unveiled the AUKUS strategic partnership, aimed at building Australia's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines by the late 2030s. As part of the partnership, Australia has also announced its intention to acquire its own weaponry and to work with partners to develop supersonic missiles.

Thus, Western countries have embarked on a course to tear down the Asia-Pacific region’s (APR) security architecture and put together military blocs there, the top diplomat emphasized.

"A course has been set for the destruction of an inclusive, consensus-based, ASEAN-centered security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, for the creation of military blocs there, and for the promotion of NATO infrastructure there," Lavrov noted.

"By proclaiming the indivisibility of the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, NATO members have crossed out all their previous incantations about the alliance’s purely defensive nature and officially declared that from now on they will be engaged not only in defending their territory, but will also be engaged in promoting their dominance in this region," the top diplomat stressed.

Meanwhile, the West is reacting amicably to the military takeover in Niger, it almost ignored the overthrow of the legitimate government in Ukraine in 2014, Russia’s diplomacy chief pointed out.

"Look how amicably the West is now reacting to the military takeover in Niger, demanding a restoration of democracy," Lavrov highlighted.

He then went on to point out how the West expressed little or no reaction to the ouster of the legitimate authorities in Ukraine through a "bloody coup" in 2014.

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