Russia Now Engaged in a Real War With the West Over Ukraine: Lavrov

Russias top diplomat on Monday said the invasion of Ukraine no longer represents a hybrid conflict but rather a real war between Russia and the West a troubling escalation in rhetoric that aligns with growing concerns that Moscow is preparing to lash out at new NATO support for Kyiv.

When we talk about what is happening in Ukraine, we are talking about the fact that this is no longer a hybrid war but a real one, which the West has been preparing for a long time against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to South Africa, historically an ally of the Soviet Union and a contemporary Russian economic partner.

The West is trying to destroy everything Russian, from language to culture, which has been in Ukraine for centuries, and forbidding people to speak their native languages, Lavrov said, according to a translation, repeating well-trod Kremlin talking points attempting to frame Russias unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine as an act of self-defense.

The combative assertion serves as the latest escalation in Russias public statements about its war in Ukraine and the consequences for its recent string of embarrassing battlefield failures and blunders. A top Putin ally said two weeks ago that Russia had extended its war in Ukraine to NATO as well, not just forces loyal to the government in Kyiv.