- Russia’s top diplomat addresses the UN in the middle of rising Europe voltage.
- He warns of militaristic rhetoric, plays down the drone penetration.
- The US military act near Venezuela “alarming,” he says.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the West on Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a “decisive answer”, warning against attempts to down aircraft in Russian airspace and accuse Germany of militaristic rhetoric.
When Russia’s War rages in Ukraine, tensions are mounted along NATO’s eastern flank in recent weeks when Estonia said Moscow sent three fighter jets into its airspace, and NATO warfare shot Russian drones down over Poland.
“Any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among them in NATO and the EU who … tell their voters that war with Russia is inevitable,” he told the United Nations General Assembly.
The ship with airspace intrusions attached to Russia does not have -nervous countries in Eastern Europe, where Russia is seen as the greatest threat since the end of the Cold War. The hope is muted by any imminent end of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump said this week he approved the idea of shooting Russian jets down, violating the NATO air room, part of a rhetorical shift that saw him mocking Russia’s military performance in Ukraine and calling it a paper tiger.
Lavrov brushed Trump’s latest remarks during a press conference that followed his general meeting, but issued a warning of any features against aircraft in Russia.
“If there is an attempt to down any flying object, any object … In our airspace, I think people will very much regret making such an irregular violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
He said that only the “politically blind” would expect Ukraine to one day return to the borders it had before Russia invaded in February 2022, an indirect response to Trump’s claim that Kyiv could re -enter all his occupied country from Russia.
Lavrov also appointed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to what he said was “militaristic rhetoric” and said Moscow was intimidated by remarks by politicians in the EU and NATO holdings in a threatening 2nd World War as a “probable scenario.”
Russia hopes for ‘Frank Dialogue’
Despite the fact that he was aiming for NATO and the European Union, Lavrov remained clear that Moscow remained hopeful of “Frank Dialogue” with the United States under Trump despite the newly changing attitude of the US president.
The United States and Russia, he said, will hold a third round of conversations in the coming months aiming to improve each other’s embassy operations, which have been severely limited for a decade of tit-for-tate diplomatic expulsions and other curbs.
Lavrov met US State Secretary Marco Rubio on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual collection of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
Lavrov said he did not see financial relations between Russia and India as threatened when Trump has set tariffs on products from India, and urged it and China to stop buying Russian oil.
Russia concerned about the American structure near Venezuela
Despite his cautious tone on Trump, Lavrov expressed an alarm over a US naval building and military act in international waters around Venezuela to fight drug cartels and described the situation as “very serious.”
Without naming the United States, Lavrov questioned whether “certain creative actors” could try to use a proposed draft of the UN Security Council’s resolution to create a greater international strength to fight gangs in Haiti to justify an attack in Venezuela.
The draft text considered by the 15-member body has been put forward by the US and Panama. It needs at least nine votes and no veto of Russia, China, USA, France or Britain to pass.
“I can’t rule out that certain creative actors could think of getting a mandate in the Security Council and later saying that there are gangs from Haiti contained in Venezuela. I can’t rule it out,” Lavrov said.
