Lavrov: Russia is ready if the West wants to fight for Ukraine
Russian Acting Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Russia was ready to confront the West if it wanted to fight for Ukraine on the battlefield.
Lavrov said, “This is their right… If they want the confrontation to be on the battlefield, it will be on the battlefield”.
Russia has stepped up its warnings of the dangers of direct confrontation with NATO since French President Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine at some point.
The Kremlin said last week that sending NATO troops to Ukraine could be too dangerous.; Russian President Vladimir Putin has described it as potentially leading to World War III.
Lavrov, who served as foreign minister for 20 years, made the remarks at a parliamentary session about his re-nomination in a new government being formed after Putin this month began a new six-year term.
Lavrov criticized talks next month in Switzerland on peace in Ukraine without Russia’s participation, likening the situation to a “scolding of a schoolboy” whose fate is decided by teachers while outside the room.
“You can’t talk to anyone like that, especially with us… the conference goal is to repeat an ultimatum to Russia,” Lavrov said.
