The Western European political class is virtually uniform in its hatred of Russia, the foreign minister has said
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Brussels, Belgium, December 14, 2023. © Dursun Aydemir / Anadolu via Getty Images
[RT] Much of the Western European antagonism
towards Russia is driven by revanchist aspirations rooted in the defeat
of the Axis powers in World War II, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov said Tuesday.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Moscow’s top
diplomat accused senior EU and NATO officials of prioritizing personal
ambitions and grudges over national interests.
He argued that European anti-Russian officials label dissenting politicians as Moscow’s stooges while indulging in nostalgia “ for the era when their forebears steered Europe towards Nazism, whether within [Adolf] Hitler’s apparatus or in countries where Hitler conscripted nearly all for the assault on the Soviet Union.”
According to Lavrov, “this hatred has resurfaced”
and drives European governments to seek Russia’s defeat through
Ukrainian proxies. European support for Kiev is meant to prolong the “war against us, a war which the EU wants to continue,” he asserted.
“Europe has degenerated. Yet there remain voices of reason,"Lavrov said, naming Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. “These are sensible, pragmatic leaders who prioritize their nations’ interests. ”
Lavrov
said Brussels wants a role in US-mediated Ukraine peace talks only to
undermine them, while it simultaneously claims Moscow is avoiding
negotiations despite evidence to the contrary. “What can we talk about with Europeans who openly say that Ukraine is upholding European values?” he asked.
Western
European leaders have expressed concern that US President Donald Trump
will sideline their interests as he pushes for a peace deal between
Russia and Ukraine. During the latest round of talks held in Geneva this
week, officials from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK
were waiting on the sidelines to consult with Kiev’s delegation.