KEY POINTS
- Lavrov accuses Israel of destabilising the Middle East in a UN speech.
- Russian FM says Israel’s actions against Palestinians and regional states could “blow up” the Middle East.
- Lavrov accuses Western powers of “sabotaging” diplomacy on Iran by pushing UN sanctions.
- He warns NATO any aggression against Russia would face a “decisive response.”
- Lavrov cautions countries against downing Russian aircraft, saying they would “regret it.”
- Lavrov criticises German Chancellor Merz for pledging to make Germany Europe’s “military engine.”
UNITED NATIONS: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday accused Israel of trying to destabilise the Middle East and warned NATO powers against escalating tensions with Moscow as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Lavrov said Israel’s “illegal use of force” against Palestinians and its military actions across the region were threatening wider conflict.
“Israel’s aggressive actions against Iran, Qatar, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq today threaten to blow up the entire Middle East,” Lavrov told delegates. He also criticised Israeli moves in the occupied West Bank.
The Russian top diplomat used his annual UN platform to lash out at Western powers, accusing them of “sabotaging” diplomacy on Iran by pushing for the reimposition of UN sanctions. He said a recent rejection of a Russian proposal to extend deadlines on the issue exposed the West’s “policy of blackmail and pressure” against Tehran.
Warning to NATO
Lavrov also addressed rising military tensions between Moscow and the alliance after several European states reported Russian aircraft and drones allegedly violating their airspace in recent weeks. NATO officials have described the incidents as deliberate tests of resolve.
“Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions” of attacking NATO, Lavrov said. “However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”
Speaking to reporters later, Lavrov warned that any country shooting down Russian aircraft still within Russian airspace “will very much regret it”.
US President Donald Trump this week voiced support for NATO countries considering whether to down Russian planes.
Trump, who has swung between praising and criticising President Vladimir Putin, has also urged Kyiv to reclaim lost territory – a sharp reversal from earlier calls for Ukraine to compromise.
Lavrov nevertheless struck a more measured note on Trump, saying Moscow saw in his administration “a desire to realistically resolve the Ukrainian crisis” and avoid “an ideological stance”.
Israel supplied Patriot system to Ukraine
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Israel had delivered a US-made Patriot air defence system to Kyiv, which has already been in operation for a month. Two more are expected in the autumn, he told reporters on his return from the UN summit.
Kyiv is scrambling to bolster its air defences ahead of winter as Russia continues near-daily strikes on Ukraine. Israel, despite its close alliance with Washington, has until now kept a careful balance in the conflict due to its ties with Moscow.
Zelensky noted that Israel remains unwilling to provide its Iron Dome system, developed with US support, but welcomed the Patriot deployment as critical to protecting Ukrainian cities.
German defence spending criticism
Lavrov also accused Germany of “militaristic rhetoric” after Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to make his country the “military engine of Europe”.
“When a person from a country that perpetrated the crimes of Nazism, fascism, the Holocaust and genocide says that Germany needs to become a great military power, he of course has an atrophied historical memory, and that is exceedingly dangerous,” Lavrov said.
Germany, once a key energy partner of Moscow, has become one of Ukraine’s strongest backers since 2022, ramping up defence spending and supplying weapons to Kyiv.
