Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a question from the Moscow Kremlin Putin television programme, Moscow, June 22, 2025

Question: In your view, why isn’t the Western world actively condemning air strikes on Iran, and even seems to praise Israel for doing this “dirty work”, as they put it?

Sergey Lavrov: That’s the kind of thing only the most cynical voices say. Others claim that Israel has a right to defend itself, just as President of France Emmanuel Macron put it.

Defend itself from what, exactly? If every country is allowed to interpret the UN Charter’s provision on the right to self-defence as it sees fit, claiming the right applies whenever and however it chooses, without regard for the UN Charter, then that’s no longer a global order; that’s complete chaos. As President Vladimir Putin said earlier today, World War III may no longer be a distant prospect.

The West’s intention to use Ukraine against Russia is no longer concealed. Russia is being demonised, and even the term ‘demonised’ doesn’t fully capture the feral aggression we see in both rhetoric and actions. The female members of the European Commission stand out in particular. That’s regrettable.

As President Putin said in his address at the plenary session of the 28th St Petersburg International Economic Forum and in other remarks,  these are our neighbours. We have no intention of cutting ourselves off from them. But they must change their behaviour. Then we’ll see what they bring to the table . No more vague promises about shared human values or a common space from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It’s laughable to talk about that now.

They have completely discredited themselves, especially in sacrificing the interests of their own populations, as President Putin also pointed out today, by almost entirely rejecting Russian energy resources and turning a blind eye to the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. All of this has cost hundreds of billions of euros and has directly affected the wellbeing of their people.

What is happening in Europe now – its economy and the social sphere in EU countries – are a clear reflection of this. They’re trying to maintain this aggression out of inertia, just to keep their populations in check. That’s the reality. The West – Europe in particular – has revealed its true face time and again. We are witnessing yet another such moment.