The Russian foreign minister ignored the British state broadcaster’s leading question, pointing instead to Western-supplied weapons being fired at Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has treated an accusation from a BBC correspondent with the contempt expected of a veteran diplomat.
The British state broadcaster’s Steve Rosenberg asked Lavrov if he would admit “that Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries?”
“Are you referring to when we destroy the drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which are then fired at us?” the Russian foreign minister retorted. “Is that what you mean by hybrid war?”
Rosenberg then dropped his line of questioning and switched to criticizing Russia for its use of “brute force” in Ukraine.
BBC’s Rosenberg: Do you admit that Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries?
Lavrov: Are you referring to when we destroy the drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which are then fired at us? Is that what you mean by… pic.twitter.com/XkLe49xcNX
“If you are referring to the destruction of infrastructure used by the [Ukrainian] Nazi regime – with Western support – to wage war against the Russian Federation, then we are resorting to hard power to neutralize this direct threat to us,” Lavrov replied.
Rosenberg’s question to Russia’s top diplomat followed several days of high-pitch war hysteria in the UK press, including a significantly over-reported ‘security incident’ near an RAF base.
European politicians regularly describe drone sightings, fires and accidents at weapons factories, and even natural disasters as examples of a Russian “hybrid war” against the West. The term “hybrid war” is typically used in reporting cases where no hard evidence exists, as was the case when a small quadcopter drone was discovered next to a Ukrainian transport plane at Leipzig Airport in Germany last month.
In the latest such incident, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna blamed Russia on Tuesday for a fire at a drone factory in Tallinn last month. Although the Kremlin has denied any role in the blaze, the UK, France, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden all backed Tsahkna’s story and pledged on Tuesday to increase military aid to Kiev.
Amid an upsurge in supposed “hybrid war” incidents, Western military leaders have escalated their war rhetoric, with members of the UK’s Labour and Conservative parties both claiming last week that a military clash with Russia is inevitable, and Spanish media claiming that Italy, France, and Spain are all at risk of a Russian drone attack from the Mediterranean Sea. The latter claim, though widely echoed across the international press, was summarily debunked by senior French and Italian officials.
“We have no intention to fight with Europe…that is utter nonsense,” Lavrov told journalists at the UN General Assembly on Saturday. “But Europe is preparing for war with us, and each day they reaffirm the fact. This could become a self-fulfilling prophecy because they are investing vast amounts of money into weapons production.”
