The West Might Deliberately Start a War in Ukraine: Lavrov Says

On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced that the West might provoke a war in Ukraine to blame Russia and impose economic sanctions on it.

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"I do not rule out that there is such a desire to fuel militaristic sentiments [in Ukraine] to stage a ‘small war' and then accuse us and impose new sanctions to suppress our competitive advantages," Lavrov said.

The Foreign Minister, who has repeatedly reiterated that the concentration of Russian troops in the vicinity of Ukraine is not for aggressive purposes, denounced that the West has sent over US$2.5 billion in weapons to Ukraine since 2014.

He also mentioned that voices within the European Union propose to implement preventive sanctions and then lift them if the Russian invasion of Ukraine does not happen in early 2022.

"Could we become a besieged square? I am convinced that this does not figure at all in the plans of the Russian government... Our way of life and our convictions will not change just because the West is angry," Lavrov said and warned Russia will respond to irrational and coercive measures against him.

He called the positions of the West and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against Russia "shameless" and accused Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic countries of instigating them.

"We will never ask anyone to lift the sanctions. We will not humiliate ourselves before anyone," Lavrov stated, explaining that most of the U.S. sanctions on Russia were approved by Congress and cannot be changed by President Joe Biden.