Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

The West and Russia are at war, says Sergei Lavrov

Credit: Getty Images

The United States and Britain are at war with Russia. So said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a UN press conference on Saturday. ‘You can call this whatever you want,’ said Lavrov. ‘But they are directly at war with us. We call this a hybrid war but that doesn’t change the reality.’

Lavrov was answering the question: ‘At what point does this actually become a direct conflict with the United States, not simply a proxy conflict via Ukraine?’ Earlier that day it had been announced that President Biden had agreed to supply Ukraine with long-range army tactical missile systems (ATACMS), capable of hitting targets 190 miles away. Ukraine had been asking for ATACMS for months, with the US reluctant to supply them partially out of concerns over whether Russia would accuse Washington of escalating the conflict. Ukraine has reportedly pledged not to aim ATACMS at Russian territory.

Although the question to Lavrov only referred to the US, the Foreign Minister did not shy away from accusing other countries, and Britain in particular, of culpability.

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