Russia’s Lavrov: West’s ‘Hybrid War’ Won’t Stop Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023. (Reuters)
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Russia’s Lavrov: West’s ‘Hybrid War’ Won’t Stop Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, January 18, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia will achieve its objectives in Ukraine despite a “hybrid war” waged by the West against Moscow, the top Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the goals of Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine are “determined by Russia’s core legitimate interests” and will be fulfilled.

“There must be no military infrastructure in Ukraine that poses a direct threat to our country,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow also intends to make sure the rights of ethnic Russians in Ukraine were protected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has explained his decision to send troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 by the need to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine, to prevent the neighboring country from joining NATO and to protect Russian speakers living there. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected those arguments as a cover for an unprovoked act of aggression.

Speaking at a marathon annual news conference, Lavrov dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s demands for a complete Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. The minister also dismissed Ukraine's insistence on payments for war damages and the prosecution of war criminals as a platform for future talks, saying “there can be no talks with Zelenskyy.”

Lavrov added that “the West makes all the decisions for Ukraine” with the goal of using the conflict to exhaust Russia. NATO members have provided Ukraine with substantial military aid.

“The amount of Western support clearly shows that the West has invested a lot in its war against Russia,” he added. “It’s the West that makes the decisions. And it has made decisions for Ukraine and without Ukraine.”

Lavrov asserted that Russia’s action in Ukraine was “our response to a hybrid war unleashed against us” by the West.

He said Russia was ready to “seriously consider” any Western initiatives on ending the conflict but added, “We haven’t seen any serious proposals yet.”

Any future Russian talks with Western representatives shouldn’t be limited to Ukraine, Lavrov continued.

“It makes no sense to talk to the West only about Ukraine,” he said. “The West is using Ukraine to destroy the security system that existed in the Euro-Atlantic region for a long time and hinged on consensus, indivisibility of security and settlement of all issues through dialogue and cooperation.”

Lavrov warned that Russia's showdown with the West over Ukraine was part of global policy shifts that will evolve over a long period.

“The process of forming a multipolar world order will be long; it will take an epoch,” he stressed. “And we are in the middle of that process now.”

He cited Western efforts to hamper the widening cooperation between Russia and China, maintaining they would not succeed.

Lavrov stated that Russia’s relations with the West “will never be the same,” accusing the West of failing to observe signed agreements with Moscow.

“Never again there will be a situation when you lie, sign documents and then refuse to fulfill them,” he said.



Mexico President Chides Trump: Mexican America ‘Sounds Nice’

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
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Mexico President Chides Trump: Mexican America ‘Sounds Nice’

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's comments about renaming the body of water, during a press conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, in this photo distributed on January 8, 2025. (Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via Reuters)

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday suggested North America including the United States could be renamed "Mexican America" - an historic name used on an early map of the region - in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America."

"Mexican America, that sounds nice," Sheinbaum joked, pointing at the map from 1607 showing an early portrayal of North America.

The president, who has jousted with Trump in recent weeks, used her daily press conference to give a history lesson, flanked by old maps and former culture minister Jose Alfonso Suarez del Real.

"The fact is that Mexican America is recognized since the 17th century... as the name for the whole northern part of the (American) continent," Suarez del Real said, demonstrating the area on the map.

On the Gulf of Mexico, Suarez del Real said the name was internationally recognized and used as a maritime navigational reference going back hundreds of years.

Trump floated the renaming of the body of water which stretches from Florida to Mexico's Cancun in a Tuesday press conference in which he presented a broad expansionist agenda including the possibility of taking control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.

Sheinbaum also said it was not true that Mexico was "run by the cartels" as Trump said. "In Mexico, the people are in charge," she said, adding "we are addressing the security problem."

Despite the back and forth, Sheinbaum reiterated that she expected the two countries to have a positive relationship.

"I think there will be a good relationship," she said. "President Trump has his way of communicating."