Lavrov attacks Italy, says statements ‘beyond diplomacy’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov re-attacked Italy on Sunday (1) due to Ukraine’s defense in the war and said Rome’s rhetoric was too blunt.

“Some of the statements of Italian politicians and media go beyond good diplomatic and journalistic standards. Italy is in the front line of those who adopt and promote anti-Russian sanctions and this was a surprise to us. We are used to the idea that Italy, thanks to its history, knew how to distinguish white from black,” he said in an interview with the radio Italian “Rete 4”.

This is not the first time that a senior Russian official has criticized the defense made by the Italians since the beginning of the Russian invasion, on February 24.

On several occasions, Moscow has indicated that it helped the country during the Covid-19 pandemic and indicated that Rome’s defense of sanctions was “improper”. At the time, Prime Minister Mario Draghi himself responded to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement saying that “the inappropriate massacres we see every day in Ukraine”.

Lavrov stressed that Moscow is ready to impose duties on European countries that import Russian gas in rubles, because these countries have “stolen” the country’s reserves in other countries.

“You want to pay in the currency stipulated in the contracts, but the supplies will be considered paid when those amounts are converted into rubles, which cannot be stolen.

However, Moscow had already cut off supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for “non-payment” and only Hungary admitted to accepting the Russians’ request. Other EU countries have reported that they continue to pay in euros as stipulated in contracts.

When asked if Russia wants to remove Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from his post, Lavrov said he “does not want to change anyone because such a regime change is the prerogative of the Americans.” For him, the president’s only wish is to “stop hostilities and let the civilians go” – he hasn’t explained exactly what he was referring to since the Ukrainians have so far only defended themselves from the Moscow attacks.

When asked how Russia would “discredit” Ukraine if Zelensky himself was Jewish, Lavrov replied that “this makes no sense because even Hitler has Jewish ancestry.” Russian President Vladimir Putin used talk of de-Nazification as one of the reasons he invaded the neighboring country in February, but the topic was dropped soon after that the conflict was longer than the Kremlin expected. .