Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western states of “directly fighting” Russia over its support for Ukraine. “You can call it whatever you want, but they are fighting us, they are fighting us directly,” Lavrov said on Saturday. UN General Assembly in new York.
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“We call it hybrid war, but that doesn’t change the reality,” he added, referring to financial aid, weapons and “mercenaries” from Western countries. Lavrov had a long press conference at the headquarters of United Nations to the involvement of USA asked about the conflict in Ukraine.
“The West is in fact fighting with us, using the bodies of Ukrainians”
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it wants to avoid direct confrontation with Russia and will not send U.S. troops. His government has also distanced itself from Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia.
The United States and European states that have been supplying Kiev with weapons systems since the Russian invasion in February 2022 strongly reiterate that they are not at war with Russia, but support Ukraine in its defense.
Lavrov, however, pointed to billions of dollars in military equipment for Kiev, as well as support from US and British intelligence services and the presence of Western military advisers in Ukraine. The West is “in fact fighting against us, using the bodies of Ukrainians”, continued the Russian chief diplomat.
Proposals for grain deal “not realistic” from Lavrov’s point of view
Lavrov also commented on proposals by UN Secretary General António Guterres to revive the canceled agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain. Russia considers this ineffective. “We don’t reject them. They are simply not realistic,” Lavrov said. He emphasized again that despite the now suspended agreement, Russia was not able to export its own grain and fertilizers as initially agreed.
A few weeks ago, Guterres made detailed proposals to Moscow so that Russia could end the renewed blockade of Black Sea ports and reestablish the agreement. In a letter, UN chief Lavrov suggested that Moscow could be reconnected to the SWIFT international financial communications network for certain payments with the establishment of a subsidiary by the sanctioned Russian agricultural bank.
The letter also discussed insuring Russian ships during exports, unfreezing frozen assets of fertilizer companies in Europe, and allowing Russian ships to enter European ports.