The “reincarnation” of the Cold War between Russia and the West is at risk of transitioning to “a hot stage”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Ministerial Council Meeting in Malta on Thursday.
In his first visit to an EU state since 2021, Lavrov accused the US and its allies of throwing arms control treaties “into the trash” to bring NATO “back to the political forefront”, adding that “a new common enemy” had been needed after the humiliating US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was filmed walking out of the meeting during Lavrov’s speech, joined by representatives of several other states, including Czechia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
During his speech, Lavrov claimed that Russia didn’t “want to attack anyone at all”, before accusing the US of waging a war against Russia using “Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces” as proxies, adding that Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said that Russia was “left with no other option” when it began its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“When Russians say they want peace, they are lying,” Sybiha countered. “They talk about negotiations only to divert attention from what they are doing. Look at their actions, not their words,” Sybiha urged, adding that Russia was in actual fact continuing “to expand the war”.
Russia’s actions, including constant airstrikes on Ukraine and its involvement of North Korean troops in hostilities, as well as a recent ballistic missile strike on Ukraine required “a decisive response” to achieve “peace through strength”, not appeasement, Sybiha stressed.
“Ukraine continues to fight for its right to exist. And the Russian war criminal at this table must know: Ukraine will win this right and justice will prevail,” Sybiha concluded.
In turn, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of escalation in Ukraine, noting that Lavrov, who walked out during Blinken’s speech, was “very adept at drowning listeners in a tsunami of misinformation”.
“But let’s not fool ourselves and let’s not allow him or anyone else to fool us. This is not about and has never been about Russia’s security,” Blinken charged, “This is about Mr. Putin’s imperial project to erase Ukraine from the map.”