- The main diplomat of Russia addresses the UN in the midst of the growing tension in Europe.
- He warns about militarist rhetoric, touches drone raids.
- American military action near Venezuela “alarming,” he says.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a “decisive response”, warning against attempts to lower airplanes in Russian airspace and accuse Germany of militaristic rhetoric.
As Russia’s war continues in Ukraine, tensions have been mounted along the NATO eastern flank in recent weeks, since Estonia said that Moscow sent three combat airplanes to its airspace and NATO’s combat planes knocked down Russian drones over Poland.
“Any aggression against my country will encounter a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this between those of NATO and the EU that … they are telling their voters that the war with Russia is inevitable,” he told the United Nations General Assembly.
The series of incursions of airspace linked to Russia has disturbed countries in Eastern Europe, where Russia is seen as the greatest threat since the end of the Cold War. Hopes have mitigated any imminent final for the Moscow War in Ukraine.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, said this week that he supported the idea of demolishing the Russian airplanes that violate NATO airspace, part of a rhetorical change that saw him make fun of Russia’s military performance in Ukraine and call him paper tiger.
Lavrov reached Trump’s most recent comments during a press conference that followed his speech from the General Assembly, but issued a warning about any movement against airplanes within Russia.
“If there are attempts to lower any flying object, any object … in our airspace, then I think people will regret having made such a atrocious violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
He said that only the “politically blind” would expect Ukraine to return one day to the borders that had been before Russia invaded in February 2022, an indirect response to Trump’s statement that kyiv could resume all his occupied lands of Russia.
Lavrov also highlighted the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to what he said it was “militarist rhetoric” and said that Moscow was alarmed by the comments of politicians in the EU capitals and NATO of an imminent World War II as a “probable scenario.”
Russia expects ‘Franco’ dialogue
Despite pointing to NATO and the European Union, Lavrov made it clear that Moscow continued with the hope of “frank dialogue” with the United States Bajo Trump despite the recent changing position of the president of the United States.
The United States and Russia, he said, will celebrate a third round of conversations in the coming months aimed at improving the operations of the other embassy, which have been severely reduced by a decade of diplomatic expulsions of Tit-Forfor Tat and other curbs.
Lavrov met Wednesday in the Secretary of State of the United States Marco Rubio outside the Annual World Leaders Meeting at the UN General Assembly.
Lavrov said that he did not see the economic relations between Russia and India as threatened, since Trump has imposed tariffs on India’s products, asking her and China to stop buying Russian oil.
Russia worried about the accumulation of the United States near Venezuela
Despite his cautious tone in Trump, Lavrov expressed alarm for a naval accumulation of the USA and a military action in international waters around Venezuela to combat drug cartels, describing the situation as “very serious.”
Without appointing the United States, Lavrov questioned whether “certain creative actors” could try to use a proposed draft of resolution of the UN Security Council to create a broader international force to fight gangs in Haiti to justify an attack within Venezuela.
The draft of the text considered by the body of 15 members has been presented by the United States and Panama. It needs at least nine votes and no veto in Russia, China, the United States, France or Great Britain to approve.
“I cannot rule out that certain creative actors may think about obtaining a mandate in the Security Council and then saying that there are Haiti gangs housed in Venezuela. I cannot rule out that,” said Lavrov.
