US responsible for Ukraine crisis, seeks to reap economic benefits: Lavrov

"It is no longer a secret that victory over Russia "on the battlefield" is the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies," he said

The United States is responsible for the Ukraine crisis as America seeks to reap the biggest benefits from it in economic and military-strategic terms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, according to a statement released by the Russian Embassy in India.

In an interview with Russian news agency TASS, Lavrov said, "The actions of the countries of the collective West and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is controlled by them, confirm the global nature of the Ukraine crisis. It is no longer a secret that victory over Russia "on the battlefield" is the strategic goal of the United States and its NATO allies."

 

"The United States is the main beneficiary of the military conflict as it seeks to reap the biggest benefits from it in economic and military-strategic terms. At the same time, Washington is addressing an important geopolitical goal, which is to destroy the traditional ties between Russia and Europe and to overpower its European satellites even more," he added.

He further said that the US is planning to order for its defence industry for years to come, which raised the bar on military spending to cover the needs of the Ukrainian forces, and wants other members of the anti-Russia alliance to do the same. Kyiv is currently receiving the most advanced weapons, including samples that have not yet been put into service in the Western armies apparently in order to see how they will do in combat conditions, according to the statement.

The volume of military aid provided to the Ukrainian regime has exceeded USD 40 billion since February, which is comparable to the military budgets of many European countries.

Recalling the November 15 incident when a Ukrainian air defence missile landed in Poland, Lavrov said that at that time Zelenskyy tried unsuccessfully to pass it off as a Russian missile. Fortunately, Washington and Brussels were smart enough not to take the bait, but the incident showed that the regime will stop at nothing.

Responding to a question over the possibility of the nuclear rhetoric becoming more aggressive in the coming year, Lavrov said, "On the one hand, they keep spinning the irresponsible narrative that Russia is about to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and citing some statements by the Russian political leadership. In reality, there have been no such statements."

"What we are saying is completely different: the Western policy of total containment of Russia is extremely dangerous. It can eventually escalate into a direct armed confrontation between nuclear powers. We have been warning them about this, and we continue to repeat time and again that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," the statement quoted him as saying.

He also said that the West is sending out openly confrontational signals in the nuclear sphere. It appears that they have brushed all propriety aside completely. Calling former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss "infamous," the Russian Foreign Minister said that she made a remarkable statement during the pre-election debates that she was ready to order a nuclear strike.

However, Washington has outdone all others, Lavrov added.

Certain anonymous Pentagon officials actually threatened to launch a "decapitation strike" against the Kremlin. In effect, they are threatening to eliminate the head of the Russian state. If some people are actually nurturing these ideas, they should think very carefully about the possible consequences of these plans.

"I am not even talking about the Kyiv regime's brazen provocations. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has gone so far as to demand that NATO countries launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Russia. This, too, goes beyond acceptable boundaries. However, we have heard even worse from that regime," Lavrov said.

"We continue to urge the West to exercise maximum restraint in this highly sensitive sphere. To minimize nuclear risks, it is necessary to remain committed to the postulate that a nuclear war is unacceptable, as confirmed by the five nuclear powers in their statement of January 3, 2022. In accordance with the document's logic, it is necessary to prevent any military confrontation between nuclear powers because such a confrontation may lead to a catastrophe," he added.

Talking about deteriorating relations with European Union, Lavrov again blamed the US for that and said that the EU is "obediently following the overseas hegemon's anti-Russian course on almost all issues, and sometimes even move into the lead. There are numerous examples of that. It would be sufficient to mention that the US prohibited the European countries to maintain the dialogue with Russia on energy, which provided the Europeans with unprecedented prosperity for decades," according to the statement.

He also said that Russia will not knock on closed doors or initiate joint projects. And the European Union is not Russia's only partner; Moscow has many other countries that are ready to do business with them, Lavrov added.