Published: February 4, 2026 8:39 pm
Author: RT
A dishonest mindset now prevails among European leaders, Sergey Lavrov has told RT in an exclusive interview
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Western politics is increasingly shaped by a dishonest mindset, with European leaders failing to learn from past mistakes.
Lavrov made the remarks to RT on Wednesday, ahead of Diplomats Day, addressing a question from interviewer Rick Sanchez about whether those connected to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein were the same as the figures behind the 2014 Western-backed coup in Ukraine.
“Regarding the specific persons, specific personalities, we can’t probably make generalizations like that,” Lavrov said. “But the fact that what we call the Deep State… they are said to be able to decide the fates of the world,” he added, noting that he does not quite believe it.
Sergey Lavrov tells us that European officials don’t need to have Epstein links to be bad actors – most do their work out in the open.
“What we call the Deep State – these groups are said to be able to decide the fate of the world. Well, I don’t quite believe that.
President… pic.twitter.com/JLNdvwc7Up
— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) February 4, 2026
Lavrov said the real issue is the culture of deception among Western leaders, particularly in Europe, where dishonesty and a lack of shame continue to influence decisions at the highest levels. “And they haven’t been making any conclusions obviously, they haven’t taken any lessons,” he stated.
The full interview with Sergey Lavrov will air on RT on Thursday at 17:30 Moscow Time.
