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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Wednesday that any European attack on Russia would lead to what he described as a “completely different” and “very short” war, while insisting Moscow has no intention of attacking European countries.
Speaking at the International Youth Festival in Yekaterinburg, Lavrov said Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, had repeatedly stated that confrontation with Europe was not Moscow’s objective.
“Russia has repeatedly said that we are not going to attack Western countries and have no interest in doing so,” Lavrov said.
“But if Europe, which speaks regularly about preparing for war against Russia, attacks the Russian Federation, then this will be a completely different war, and it will be very short,” he added.
Lavrov argued that the West had long pursued a policy of containing Russia and cited what he described as NATO’s “forceful” expansion toward Russian borders.
He also criticized statements by European leaders about preparing for a potential conflict with Russia, saying the issue had become a major theme among political leaders in Brussels.
Lavrov said the deployment of Western military forces in Ukraine would amount to a declaration of war against Russia.
At the same time, he said Moscow remained ready for negotiations aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict and would wait for proposals on resuming talks, though he said Russia was not particularly optimistic about the prospects for progress.
Asked where possible negotiations could take place, Lavrov said any venue acceptable to all parties could be considered, including Serbia.
Lavrov also said Russia was examining information about the possible deployment of U.S. weapons in space.
Addressing relations between Moscow and Washington under President Donald Trump, he said ongoing dialogue had so far failed to produce tangible changes in major areas of bilateral relations.
Lavrov also addressed Russia’s parliamentary election scheduled for Sept. 18-20, alleging that Moscow was witnessing particularly strong Western attempts to interfere with Russian voters during the current campaign.
Looking ahead to relations with Europe, Lavrov said Russia would not return to the close ties it maintained with European countries following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He added that Moscow would not enter into agreements with European countries in areas that affect Russia’s security.
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