One can hardly refer to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an "offended liverwurst," considering that when Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andrey Melnik called him that, Scholz didn't appear offended at all, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

The minister was referring to a series of exchanges between Kiev and Berlin over the Ukrainian government's refusal to welcome German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier for a state visit in April. Scholz responded by declining to come as well, and the Ukrainian ambassador resorted to name calling in retaliation.

Lavrov, when asked by a student of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations about the diplomatic spat during an educational event, said:

"His boorishness has long become notorious. Politicians in Germany who have kept their dignity have drawn attention to him on multiple occasions. Scholz was not offended by it, so the word 'offended' can be removed from this formula."

Lavrov assessed that, under the current government, "Germany relinquished the last traces of independence" from the US. He also said the same was true for most of the European nations, with the exception of France, where President Emmanuel Macron "is still talking about the strategic independence of the EU. I am certain they will not be allowed to have it," he added.

The EU is turning into an organization indistinguishable from NATO in terms of its US-determined goal, policies, and even membership, the Russian minister said, referring to the proposed inclusion of Sweden and Finland into the military bloc.

Ukrainian officials would continue to get away with insulting Europeans just as easily as they were getting away with harboring radical nationalists and open neo-Nazis in the ranks of their troops. But, ultimately the West considers Ukraine "expendable" as long as it serves its goals of undermining Russia.

Lavrov argued that Washington ramped up its confrontation with independent-thinking nations after China managed to "beat it" at its own game. Beijing became more successful than Washington by playing by the rules the US helped set in the form of global institutions like the World Bank or the World Trade Organization.

After failing to compete fair and square against China and other emerging economic powers, including Russia, the US now wants to change the rules themselves to maintain an unfair advantage and preserve the neocolonialist system it created, he argued.

"It cannot be stable for any prolonged period of time. Historically speaking, our cause is the good one."

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The possible accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO does not represent an immediate threat to Russia but the expansion of the alliance's military infrastructure will "certainly" prompt a response from Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

Speaking at the Collective Security Treaty Organization's summit in the Kremlin, Putin said that further NATO enlargement

"is a problem that has been created completely artificially, since it is being done in the foreign policy interests of the United States quite persistently, skillfully and very aggressively."

He added that the military bloc has been routinely used as a foreign policy instrument of one country - the US.

"Russia has no problems with these states, and in this sense, the (NATO) expansion through the accession of these countries does not create an immediate threat for Russia. But the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory will certainly provoke our response. We will respond accordingly."

He said the nature of Moscow's response would depend on the particular threat posed by NATO.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov claimed that by applying for membership of the alliance, Helsinki and Stockholm had chosen to "sacrifice common sense. They should have no illusions that we would simply tolerate it."

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