Russia's FM Lavrov says US in 'direct war' with Russia using Ukraine conflict

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the United States is in a "direct" war with Russia as opposed to a proxy conflict with respect to the conflict in Ukraine. When asked by reporters on the sidelines of the UNGA if the United States' supply of arms to Kyiv implies a proxy war with Moscow, Lavrov said, “You can call this whatever you want to call this, but they [US] is directly at war with us."

"We can call this a hybrid war, but that doesn’t change the reality," said Russia's Foreign Minister. “They are effectively engaged in hostilities with us, using the Ukrainians as fodder."

Lavrov echoed Russia's President Vladimir Putin's threats, as he had previously warned of "catastrophic repercussions" if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] led by the United States attempted to engage with his armed forces during the "special military operation" in Ukraine. At a presser in Kazakhstan's capital Astana Putin warned the United States to avoid NATO troops indulging in any direct confrontation with Russian soldiers inside the Ukraine during what he described as "demilitarization of the neo-Nazis."

"In any case, direct contact, direct clash of NATO troops with the Russian Army is a very dangerous move which could lead to a 'global catastrophe,'" Putin warned the west. "I hope that those who are saying this are smart enough not to take such a step," he went on to iterate. 

'West empire of lies, and neo-colonial mindset': Lavrov

On the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at UN headquarters in New York, Russia's Lavrov called the United States "self-interested defenders of a fading international order" whose "subordinate Western collective" have been "continuing to fuel conflicts which artificially divide humanity into hostile blocks and hamper the achievement of overall aims." Lavrov continued that the United States is "doing everything it can to prevent the formation of a genuinely multipolar world order."

The US is "trying to force the world to play according to their own self-centred rules," Russia's Foreign Minister asserted in a fiery take with no mention of the war in Ukraine. He brought world leaders' focus to the US' and its allies' intervention in the Ukraine conflict by pumping in billions of dollars in military equipment as well as Britain's Defense Ministry providing intelligence support but threatening Russia's allies against any form of defense co-operation. 

West is “de facto fighting against us, using the hands and bodies of Ukrainians,” Lavrov defiantly added. 

“I think everybody present here who pays at least some attention to (…) the situation in Ukraine knows very well that Americans, Britons and others are fighting, first of all, through providing more and more weapons,” he added.

Lavrov slammed the United States and the 'collective West' as an “empire of lies” and accused it of a neo-colonial mindset in its overtures to the Global South, trying to intimidate countries to wade into Europe's war. Lavrov iterated that the “global majority” was duped by the West, as he underscored that the US, UK, EU, and Western world used the high profile international forums and annual gathering of world leaders like the UNGA to rack up support and funds for Ukraine. 

_{Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Credit: AP}

Since it launched the "special military operation" in the eastern Donbass region citing the 'violence and genocide' endured by the ethnic Russian-speaking population in the contentious region inflicted by the Ukrainian militia groups, Kremlin has accused the Biden administration of flaring the entire conflict using its influence on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "puppet" regime and rampant supply of arms worth billions, including highly sought-after Patriot missile defence systems.

"This cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals during the special military operation,” Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, using the term Russia's President Putin uses for the "operation" in Ukraine. Peskov had lambasted the US saying that Ukraine and its so-called allies show "no calls for peace or signs of willingness to listen to Russia’s concerns." 

_{Moscow-appointed head of Kherson region Vladimir Saldo and head of Zaporizhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Denis Pushilin, leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Leonid Pasechnik, leader of self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, at a ceremony at the Kremlin on Friday to sign treaties for the four regions of Ukraine to join Russia. Credit: AP}

Zelenskyy's 10-point peace formula 'not feasible': Lavrov

On prospects of negotiations for cessation of hostilities, Lavrov said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace formula that was presented is not “feasible” or “realistic." Russian Foreign Minister said that everyone understands that Zelenskyy’s peace formula — which he has said cannot include ceding any territory to Russia — is not feasible as Russian soldiers have fought and laid their lives for the now occupied territories. "Everyone says this is only conditions for negotiation" but it is not possible, Lavrov said.

Ukraine's blueprint for peace is not feasible or realistic, says Lavrov.

Zelenskyy's peace plan was previously trashed by Moscow, that said proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine must take into account the "today's realities" referring to the annexation of four of the Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. "There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today's realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia," Putin's spokesperson Peskov had clarified when asked about holding talks with Ukraine to stop the war.

"Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful," Peskov said. 

Ukraine's President has advertised his 10-point blueprint, backed by Washington and the European Union, as the only condition for ending the war. It includes the complete Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory which includes the 2014 annexed peninsula of Crimea. He has also demanded for setting up special tribunal for Russian accountability on war crimes. Lavrov dismissed the formula at UNGA as "unrealistic," adding, that Russia “draws its conclusion that nobody wants to seriously show an understanding of what is happening." He then emphasized that Russia would end the war on the battlefield. "Under these circumstances, if they say it’s on the battlefield, then fine, it’ll be on the battlefield.”

Lavrov also slammed the West for 'duping' Russia with the Turkey and UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying that demands of only one side were met. Promises made to Russia were never fulfilled, said Lavrov, adding that the demand of removing sanctions on a Russian bank and reconnect it to the global Swift payments system was never met and that Ukraine's military deployed the "safe routes" for the passage of the ships loaded with grain to launch attacks on Crimea and its Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol. UN's proposals to revive the export corridor for Ukrainian agricultural products were “simply not realistic," said Lavrov.