Russia’s Lavrov accuses West of escalating tension
- 5 December, 13:03
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Western countries of escalating the tension that could lead to the triggering of a new Cold War.
In remarks to an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Malta on December 5, the Russian top diplomat blamed the West for “reincarnation of the Cold War, only now with a much greater risk of a transition to a hot stage.”
In particular, Lavrov mentioned the US, saying Washington’s actions were driven by a desire to “return NATO to the political spotlight”. After the Afghan disgrace, there was a need for a new common enemy,” the Russian minister said.
Lavrov left the venue before US Secretary of State Blinken’s speech. Responding to Lavrov’s accusations, Blinken put the blame for escalation on Kremlin, highlighting the deployment of North Korean troops in the war in Ukraine, the use of intermediate-range ballistic missile in attacks on Ukraine, Putin’s recent decision to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons and increased strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
“Mr Lavrov spoke about the sovereign right of every member state to make their own choices…That’s exactly what this is about: the sovereign right of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people to make their own choices about the future, not to have those choices made in and by Moscow,” Blinken went on saying.
It should be noted that this was Lavrov’s first visit to an EU nation since Russia’s war in Ukraine in 2022. The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic left out of the venue during the Russian minister’s speech.
