The Russian foreign minister ignored the British state broadcaster\u2019s leading question, pointing instead to Western-supplied weapons being fired at Russia<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has treated an accusation from a BBC correspondent with the contempt expected of a veteran diplomat.\u00a0
\nThe British state broadcaster\u2019s Steve Rosenberg asked Lavrov if he would admit \u201cthat Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries?\u201d
\n\u201cAre you referring to when we destroy the drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which are then fired at us?\u201d the Russian foreign minister retorted. \u201cIs that what you mean by hybrid war?\u201d
\nRosenberg then dropped his line of questioning and switched to criticizing Russia for its use of \u201cbrute force\u201d in Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BBC\u2019s Rosenberg: Do you admit that Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries?Lavrov: Are you referring to when we destroy the drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which are then fired at us? Is that what you mean by\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/XkLe49xcNX\u2014 Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) September 29, 2026 <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are referring to the destruction of infrastructure used by the [Ukrainian] Nazi regime \u2013 with Western support \u2013 to wage war against the Russian Federation, then we are resorting to hard power to neutralize this direct threat to us,\u201d Lavrov replied.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
The RAF Fairford \u2018terror plot\u2019: Unpacking escalation in the UK echo-chamber<\/p>\n
Rosenberg\u2019s question to Russia\u2019s top diplomat followed several days of high-pitch war hysteria in the UK press, including a significantly over-reported \u2018security incident\u2019 near an RAF base.\u00a0
\nEuropean politicians regularly describe drone sightings, fires and accidents at weapons factories, and even natural disasters as examples of a Russian \u201chybrid war\u201d against the West. The term \u201chybrid war\u201d is typically used in reporting cases where no hard evidence exists, as was the case when a small quadcopter drone was discovered next to a Ukrainian transport plane at Leipzig Airport in Germany last month.
\nIn the latest such incident, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna blamed Russia on Tuesday for a fire at a drone factory in Tallinn last month. Although the Kremlin has denied any role in the blaze, the UK, France, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden all backed Tsahkna\u2019s story and pledged on Tuesday to increase military aid to Kiev.
\nAmid an upsurge in supposed \u201chybrid war\u201d incidents, Western military leaders have escalated their war rhetoric, with members of the UK\u2019s Labour and Conservative parties both claiming last week that a military clash with Russia is inevitable, and Spanish media claiming that Italy, France, and Spain are all at risk of a Russian drone attack from the Mediterranean Sea. The latter claim, though widely echoed across the international press, was summarily debunked by senior French and Italian officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no intention to fight with Europe\u2026that is utter nonsense,\u201d Lavrov told journalists at the UN General Assembly on Saturday. \u201cBut Europe is preparing for war with us, and each day they reaffirm the fact. This could become a self-fulfilling prophecy because they are investing vast amounts of money into weapons production.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Russian foreign minister ignored the British state broadcaster\u2019s leading question, pointing instead to Western-supplied weapons being fired at Russia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has treated an accusation from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t