Post #3342

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’sinterview with RT(Moscow, February 5, 2026) Read in full Key talking points: #Europe#EU#Germany • Over the past 45 days, many European politicians have addressed relations with the Russian Federation. Until recently, they were united in demanding firmness, not scaling back support or weapons supplies to Ukraine, and financing it to make sure Russia suffers a “strategic defeat” on the battlefield. • Recently, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a comment describing Russia as the largest country in Europe. I must correct this immediately. Russia is the largest country in Eurasia – and in the world. • The Americans have never wanted, and still do not want, to leave the Europeans to their own devices. Their goal is for Europeans to finance all their own military preparations by buying US weaponry, while the US naturally retains control and the role of ‘guardian’ over its NATO allies. • As Euro-Atlantic structures have weakened (the EU having become a mere appendage of NATO, a status even formalised in documents) Germany’s rising profile has caused alarm, not only in our country but in many EU capitals. There is growing resentment and a palpable desire to prevent Germany from subjugating all others once more, especially as Germany’s being “back on track,” proclaimed by Friedrich Merz and his government, is openly linked to the country’s rapid militarisation and preparations for war. • We do maintain contacts with some European leaders. They call and ask us not to publicise the conversations. Some engage in ‘undercover’ contacts here. • I see no coherent position from Europe. They are trapped by their own rhetoric, locked into an uncompromising stance: ‘Russia’s strategic defeat,’ ‘Ukraine cannot lose, and Russia cannot win, otherwise Europe loses face.’ #NATO • We have indeed been “burned” by our trust in those who swore that NATO would not expand eastwards, that Russia would not be marginalised, and that we would forge a common space from Lisbon to Vladivostok – a vast continent of peace and security. • NATO first lost its reason for existence, then found renewed purpose in Afghanistan. When that purpose was publicly, shamelessly trampled before the eyes of the international community, action was needed. So, they regrouped, convened, and contrived the situation we witness today – declaring Russia a “pariah” and identifying Ukraine as the “optimal material” with which to provoke us, a pliable entity to be shaped as they saw fit. #Ukraine • This is nonsense and a quite telling one. What do I mean? For the past year, the West (Europe) has been saying the same thing over and over: there must be solid guarantees of security and an immediate ceasefire. But without addressing issues pertaining to settlement, these security guarantees will implicate that the ceasefire will be exploited to funnel more arms into Ukraine. They did not hear this reasoning; neither did they respond in any way. • What kind of Ukraine we are willing to see as a neighbour for the long, even eternal term? It must be a friendly Ukraine. Not necessarily an ally, but a neutral and benign state. This, of course, implies respect not only for the rights of the people in the territory that will remain part of Ukraine, not only respect for their rights to access basic necessities, such as warmth, food, and water, but also respect for their, if you will, fundamental human rights, including language, education, and religion. • That man [Zelensky] is devoid of shame or conscience, who thinks of nothing but his own survival. For that, he feels compelled to perform some scripted ‘sketches’ on the international stage, which he actually treats as a theatre. • In Anchorage, we accepted the Trump administration’s proposal concerning Ukraine. If everything was as straightforward and decisive as presented, then it would imply that Ukraine had been set aside from our bright path towards future cooperation and prosperity.