Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declared NATO and the EU are now “at war” with Moscow in chilling escalation of rhetoric. The declaration comes after several instances of Russian drones seen flying across NATO nations, including Poland.
“NATO and the EU, through Ukraine, have declared war on Russia ad are directly participating in it,” Lavrov said on Thursday.
The declaration comes a day after the Russian official met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss how to bring an end to the war in Ukraine on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. It comes after Trump exposed ‘three sinister events’ that took place during his UN visit.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the State Deparment Tommy Pigott said in a statement. “The Secretary reiterated President Trump’s call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia–Ukraine war.”
Lavrov’s statement is the latest alarming escalation of the Russian conflict. In recent weeks the Kremlin have allegedly flown jets and drones across the airspace of several NATO allies. On Sept. 9, 19 to 23 drones entered Poland’s airspace after allegedly being launched from Russia, leaving the Polish Air Force scrambling to intersect them.
Likewise, just this week, Copenhagen and Oslo airports were shut down for almost four hours after drones were seen flying in the vicinity. Although authorities did not immediately blame Russia for the incident, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she could not rule out Moscow’s involvement, in what she called the “most serious attack” in Danish infrastructure in recent memory.
On Wednesday, Russian warplanes were also caught flying around the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), the North American Aerospace Defense Command reported. The organization said that Russian military activity in the area is common and not considered a threat, however, their recent presence in countries across Europe sparked tensions among many.
During a recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Trump said he believed that Russian aircrafts should be shut down if they are seen entering international territory, another sign of rising animosity between the Kremlin and other UN countries.