Moscow says European Union working under US diktat; 'Course to create bloc against Russia'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov blamed the West for engaging in a 'hybrid war' for “What's happening in Ukraine". Speaking to the media on Russian foreign policy, Lavrov said the European Union was working under the diktat of the United States and that US and EU are "ready to use blackmail, force and sanctions to colonise other countries". Lavrov said most of the European bloc serves US interests vis a vis Russia and China.     

“A course has been taken to create bloc architecture against Russia and the People's Republic of China in the Indo-Pacific region, as Westerners call it," Lavrov said.

Russian Foreign Policy driven by a ‘new international reality’

The Russian permanent mission to the European Union said Moscow's foreign policy in 2022 was driven by the "emergence of a new international reality". On the other hand, Lavrov said the EU-NATO cooperation declaration has subjugated Europe to NATO. He further said the West was trying to destroy ties between former Soviet partners.  

The Russian foreign minister also laid out the goals of Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine. Lavrov said Russian objectives in Ukraine are not artificial and are determined by interests of the Russian Federation and its neighbours.  

'No negotiations with Zelenskyy'

Furthermore, in a bid to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov linked the West’s actions to Adolf Hitler and Napolean Bonaparte, Sky news reported. Accusing the West of supplying Ukraine with more arms and ammunition to wear the Russian military down, Lavrov ruled out the possibility of negotiations with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but said that Moscow would be ready to respond to the West’s proposals over Ukraine.

"There can be no negotiations with Zelenskyy, simply because he has legally banned talks with the Russian government," Lavrov was quoted by Sputnik as saying during the Q&A session of his press conference.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued to blame West-led hybrid war as a precursor for the invasion of Ukraine. A theory of military strategy, hybrid warfare employs political warfare and blends conventional, irregular and cyberwarfare with other influencing methods, such as fake news, propaganda, diplomacy and foreign electoral intervention.