Russia Accuses NATO, EU For Waging ‘Real War’ On It Through Ukraine

Russia’s Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday accused NATO and the European Union of using Ukraine to declare a war on Moscow. He made the remarks at the G20 Foreign ministers meeting at the UN on Thursday. 

The remarks came two days after US President Donald Trump asserted that Ukraine could take back all its territory with assistance from NATO. Trump also praised Ukraine’s war effort and said that NATO allies should shoot down Russian jets that enter their airspace, Reuters reported.

"Another clear example is the crisis in Ukraine provoked by the West, through which NATO and the EU have ... already declared a real war on my country and are directly involved in it," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Lavrov claimed that the West had provoked the war in Ukraine and both NATO and the EU have gone beyond indirect support and are active participants in the war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had made a similar assertion earlier this month, according to The Kyiv Independent. 

Britain dismissed Lavrov’s remarks as “false fantasy world delusions”. 

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called out Lavrov and condemned Russia's "unprovoked war of aggression" against Ukraine.

"No amount of false fantasy world distortions, misinformation and propaganda from the Russian representative about the causes of the war will convince anyone," she said, Reuters reported. 

Despite a change in rhetoric, Trump has not imposed any heavy sanctions on Russia. He met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN summit. 

Russian forces occupy around 20 percent of Ukraine and the fighting rages in the east of the country for more than three and a half years since the full-scale invasion.