Lavrov: EU has become ‘aggressive and pro-war’ – becoming NATO’s ‘annex’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today accused the European Union of turning it into an “aggressive and pro-war” factor in the wake of the NATO conflict in Ukraine.

“The EU has transformed from a constructive economic platform, as it was created, into an aggressive and belligerent factor that is already demonstrating its ambitions far beyond the European continent,” Lavrov told a news conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

“Kiev’s desire to become a member of the European Union is not painless,” he said.

Lavrov widely accused Europeans of rushing “exactly on the path already pushed by NATO, thus confirming the tendency to merge with the North Atlantic Alliance and become, in fact, a NATO annex,” he said.

He also denounced statements made by European Commission President Ursula von der Layen, who was in India in late April for a visit aimed at strengthening strategic ties with the country, which demonstrates its neutrality in the face of the conflict.

“The outcome of the war (in Ukraine) will not only determine the future of Europe, but will also profoundly affect the region of the Indian and Pacific Oceans,” he said.

Moscow sees the Atlantic Alliance, an old enemy during the Cold War, as an existential threat and has justified its attack on Ukraine, citing Kiev’s Atlantic ambitions and Western political and military support in the neighboring country.

Russia is also stepping up its attacks on the European Union, which has imposed a series of unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, and is showing its support for Ukraine.

Source: AMPE