Ukraine conflict: "Russia is fighting alone against the entire West," says Lavrov, urges self-reliance

Moscow [Russia], July 29 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow is facing the entire Western bloc alone for the first time in its history and must depend solely on its own strength to prevail in the ongoing geopolitical confrontation.

"The main task is to defeat the enemy. For the first time in history, Russia is fighting alone against the entire West. In World War I and World War II, we had allies. Now we have no allies on the battlefield. So we must rely on ourselves and not allow any weakness," Lavrov said, as quoted by RT, while speaking at the 'Territory of Meanings' forum on Monday.

According to RT, Lavrov emphasised that the geopolitical situation changed drastically after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, resulting in a direct standoff between Moscow and Western powers.

Reiterating Moscow's longstanding stance on NATO's eastward expansion, Lavrov stated that Russia would not compromise on its core security demands. "We insist on what is our legitimate demand... no dragging Ukraine into NATO, no NATO expansion at all. It has already expanded right up to our borders, contrary to all promises and documents that were adopted," he said, as reported by RT.

Lavrov further noted that any future settlement of the Ukraine conflict must reflect "the new territorial reality on the ground," RT added.

Drawing an analogy between Western powers and childhood bullies, Lavrov said, "When you're a kid messing around with other boys in the yard, sometimes a big kid, three or four years older, shows up and starts chasing the little ones. That's roughly what the West is doing to everyone else right now."

RT reported that Russia continues to assert that NATO's expansion and Ukraine's ambition to join the US-led bloc were among the primary triggers of the conflict. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine not only extends the war but effectively makes NATO a direct participant in the hostilities.

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