Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO and the European Union have declared war on Russia through Ukraine at a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday.
“A clear example is the crisis in Ukraine, provoked by the collective West, through which NATO and the European Union want to declare, have already declared, a real war on my country and are directly participating in it,” Lavrov said, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.
It came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lavrov on Wednesday to reiterate US President Donald Trump’s “call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war,” according to State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Rubio’s remarks were a signal of Washington’s hardening stance on Moscow after Trump’s sudden pivot in favor of Ukraine earlier this week.
It is also the second time Kremlin officials have made militaristic claims about Europe in recent days.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service claimed that the EU was massing troops in Romania and Ukraine’s Odesa as part of plans to “occupy” Moldova with NATO forces after parliamentary elections on Sept. 28.
“Euro-bureaucrats in Brussels are determined to keep Moldova in line with their Russophobic policies. They intend to do this at any cost, including deploying troops and carrying out the de facto occupation of the country,” the spy agency said in quotes cited by The Moscow Times.
The idea that NATO and Russia are already at war is a recurring theme in Kremlin rhetoric.
On Sept. 15, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said at a news briefing that “NATO is at war with Russia”, adding “it’s evident, and it doesn’t need any additional confirmation”, in quotes cited by Russian state media TASS.
The statement by Lavrov on Thursday also alludes to rising tensions between Russia and NATO after airspace violations across various member states.
Several European officials, as well as Trump, have said that allies should shoot down Russian aircraft which stray into their territory.
Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said on Tuesday that Lithuania had streamlined its rules to make it easier to order the military to shoot down unauthorized drones.
However, Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov warned on Sept. 25 that such actions by NATO would amount to “war” against Russia.
“Quite a few planes violate our airspace, whether accidentally or not. No one shoots them down,” Meshkov said in retaliation.