As the Russian-Ukrainian fronts witness another day of escalation and fighting today, with the Russian army trying to seize more Ukrainian territory while the Kyiv forces resist with Western military supplies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that the West's intention to defeat Russia in Ukraine may be linked to a desire to "eliminate" a competitor to the United States in oil markets.
In an interview as part of the documentary project "Oil," published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website today, Lavrov stated: "In pursuit of the goal of defeating Russia on the battlefield, as they currently declare, weakening it and removing it from the ranks of global players, many NGOs, as well as political figures, seriously assert that it is necessary to 'end colonialism' in Russia. Proxies are being created abroad for 'freedom' in certain Russian republics, etc., which may be somehow related to the desire to eliminate a state that competes with the United States in energy markets."
Lavrov pointed out that Ukraine is being fully supplied in material terms by the United States and its NATO allies, adding that at the same time, the stated goal of this war against Russia is to prevent violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and restore its territorial integrity. He continued: "We cannot ignore the fact that Russia is one of the leading producers and exporters of oil and gas. Our country has been the main gas supplier to Europe, and the gas pipelines built during the Soviet era have provided Europe, primarily Germany, with comfortable living and prosperity for decades. There were no beggars; poverty was not at the level seen in the United States. Even before the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up, the West was forcing Europe to stop consuming Russian gas and imposed its own energy resources."
