“Europe has lost Russia”: Lavrov threatens EU with “tough crackdown”

“Europe has lost Russia”
Lavrov threatens EU with “tough crackdown”

4/4/2023 4:53 am

Russia does not forgive the EU for supporting the attacked Ukraine. Foreign Minister Lavrov made that clear once again. If necessary, the Kremlin’s chief diplomat claims that Europe will be “harshly judged”, without explaining exactly how this is to be done.

The bad relationship between the European Union (EU) and Russia is self-inflicted, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “The European Union ‘lost’ Russia. But that’s their own fault,” Lavrov said in an interview with the state-run newspaper Argumenty i Fatky (AIF). “It is the EU member states and EU leaders who openly state that it is necessary to inflict what they call a strategic defeat on Russia.”

Russia has decided how to deal with Europe because it supplies weapons and trainers to the “criminal regime” in Kiev. Moscow intends to crack down on Europe if necessary, Lavrov threatened. “In response to hostile moves, if necessary, we will crack down on the basis of Russia’s national interests and the principles of reciprocity accepted in diplomatic practice.”

Lavrov emphasizes closeness to China

The West is also trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China by talking about an unequal relationship and Moscow’s dependence on Beijing, Lavrov said. The ten-hour talks between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month pushed the “strategic partnership” between the two countries beyond an “exclusively bilateral context.” “Obviously we feel a bond of comradeship and we are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder in defending each other’s vital interests,” he told AIF.

China and Russia signed a “partnership agreement without borders” in early 2022 – just a few weeks later Putin sent his troops to Ukraine. The government in Moscow describes the aggressive war as a “military special operation”. China has refrained from criticizing Putin’s decision and is currently promoting a “peace plan” for the conflict in Ukraine.