(MENAFN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Western nations will not succeed in achieving a “strategic defeat” of Russia. Speaking during a visit to Kyrgyzstan on Sunday, Lavrov made the comments in a meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Jeenbek Kulubaev.

Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union of exploiting the Ukraine conflict as a geopolitical weapon against Moscow. “We are facing an unprecedented standoff with the collective West, which has decided to go to war with Russia again, using the Nazi regime in Kiev as a tool,” he said. “They’ve never succeeded before, and they won’t now.”

He also suggested that some Western leaders are beginning to realize the futility of their confrontational approach, though he did not offer specific examples.

Lavrov’s comments echoed ongoing warnings from Moscow about the dangers of Western support for Ukraine and increasing militarization in Europe. At a recent EU summit, most countries supported additional sanctions and aid for Ukraine, although Hungary blocked a joint statement and Kiev’s EU membership talks.

While Russia initially viewed Ukraine’s EU aspirations as a sovereign decision, Moscow’s stance has shifted as Brussels has become more involved militarily. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently claimed the EU now poses as significant a threat to Russia as NATO.

Russia continues to view NATO’s expansion near its borders as a serious security threat. Moscow blames the alliance’s backing of Ukraine’s NATO ambitions as a major factor in the conflict.

The Kremlin criticized NATO’s recent pledge for member states to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP, dismissing it as a response to an imaginary threat. President Vladimir Putin accused the alliance of inventing dangers to pressure citizens into funding military buildups.

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