Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Western powers are increasingly divided as their global influence wanes.
Speaking during a visit to China on Wednesday, Lavrov accused the European Union and United Kingdom of sabotaging U.S.-Russia diplomatic talks aimed at normalizing relations and criticized large-scale European rearmament programs.
“European elites view militarization as a guarantee of their survival,” he said. “And Americans encourage this European militarization by shifting responsibility for security in the Old World.”
Lavrov stated that Washington is content for European nations to fund Kiev against Moscow and even create a new military alliance involving Ukraine, thereby placing “the main responsibility [on them] for containing Russia.”
The Russian diplomat added that the broader Western strategy seeks to “preserve and renew their hegemony” by implementing tools that allow them to “live at the expense of others”—a reference to historical practices such as slavery and colonialism. However, as Western power declines, internal divisions are intensifying.
Lavrov criticized the EU for prioritizing ideological considerations over economic pragmatism by refusing Russian energy supplies amid a global price shock caused by U.S. military operations in Iran.
“Europe says it is getting off the needle of Russian oil and gas,” he said. “But it risks being impaled by an aspen stake that [the United States] is actively sharpening for Europeans.”
Lavrov further alleged that officials in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and London are deliberately prolonging the Ukraine conflict to keep the U.S. engaged. He claimed they have largely nullified the outcome of previous U.S.-Russia negotiations in Alaska, even as President Donald Trump has moved away from his predecessor’s policy of open-ended support for Kiev.
The Russian minister concluded that Moscow has no illusions about U.S. efforts to dominate global energy markets through recent military actions against Venezuela and Iran and ongoing sanctions on Russia.