"We know that our Western friends have many phobias, many complexes. They have a superiority complex, the infallibility complex, and I believe they also have some paranoia. Any process that does not include the West, which the West does not control, they perceive as opposition, a challenge to their dominance. It's high time for them to kick this habit."The remarks came as Lavrov defended Moscow's opposition to the US and its allies, whom Russia accuses of imposing their will on other nations through unsavory methods. The drive to punish Russia with economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation in response to attacking Ukraine, in which Washington wants to enroll the entire world, is the latest example, the top diplomat said.
"The insolence of the Anglo-Saxon alliance has no bounds, and we find confirmation of that every day. The West sends its envoys and emissaries every day to every capital without exception... to deliver ultimatums and to blackmail."
The current behavior of the Western nations amounts to "total war on the Russian world," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday during a meeting with the heads of the country's regions. Russian society and major political forces support the government's decision to face this challenge, he added."Western nations are doubling, tripling, and quadrupling their efforts to deter our nation. They use a wide array of tools, from unilateral economic sanctions to totally deceitful propaganda in the global media. Low-level Russophobia, which to our deepest regret is promoted by a number of governments, has risen to unprecedented levels.Russia responded to the pressure with a uniting of "all healthy patriotic forces" and a surge of public support for Russia's foreign policy, the foreign minister outlined.
"The West has declared total war against us, against the entire Russian world. Nobody even hides this fact now. The 'cancel culture' targeting everything connected to our nation has become absurd."
Lavrov also noted that the crisis has exposed the true nature of the promises given to Russia 30 years ago, after the collapse of the USSR:"We now see the value of all the talk about universal values and the need to turn Europe into a common home from the Atlantic to the Pacific. No one should have illusions about the attitude of the US and its allies towards Russia."The senior diplomat was speaking at a meeting of a Foreign Ministry council that includes all Russian regional heads as members. The advisory body regularly convenes to discuss how the diplomatic corps can assist various parts of the country. As foreign minister, Lavrov chairs the council.
"Since the special operation, I can tell you that in the major cities of the Donbass republics, Ukrainian shelling has increased significantly. They're using Tochka-Us against our civilians. Now, the heavy shelling, particularly in my neighbourhood in the Petrovsky district (of Donetsk), people are being shelled at a rate they haven't experienced since 2014 or 2015. And so it's very hard.The veteran referred to Russia's special operation which was launched on 24 February.
"Eight years of war takes a toll on every single person from the soldier on the frontline to the little kid that was born in 2015, to the old babushka who is still just a pensioner and sitting on the front porch watching things develop.
"The people of Donbass and the volunteers, first of all, understand that Operation Z was absolutely necessary."
"spreading narratives of Russian-fascist propaganda and blackmail... in exchange for the truncation of Ukrainian territory." These charges make him "an accomplice in the crimes of the Russian authorities against Ukraine and its citizens."
Comment: US actions to arm Ukraine with long range missiles would defacto bring the US directly into the conflict. Has the US considered the long term and tragic implications or is it shooting from the hip?