Lavrov slams UK statements as incitement of terrorism against Moscow

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
31 May 2023 20:13
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, while in Mozambique, that the comments of the UK Foreign Minister incite Kiev to commit acts of terrorism against Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a joint news conference following talks with local officials in Maputo, Mozambique, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

The statement made by the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly can be considered, by Moscow, to be a direct incitement of Ukraine to attack Russia.

"Yesterday, or the day before yesterday, I think, the UK foreign secretary said on TV and on social media that the UK does not encourage strikes on Russian territory, but the Ukrainian authorities, the Ukrainian armed forces know better how they want to ensure their territorial integrity. [This is] direct incitement to what the Kiev terrorists are doing," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said while at a press conference in Mozambique.

Cleverly, earlier, had deflected a question about Kiev's involvement in the attack on Moscow on Tuesday and rather stated that Ukraine has the right to "project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself."

Furthermore, responding to US Ambassador to Pretoria Reuben Brigety, who alleged that South Africa had provided Russia with weapons, Lavrov said he should mind his own business.

Asked to comment on allegations by the US diplomat that the Lady R, a cargo ship, was transporting weapons from South Africa to Russia, Lavrov said, "South Africa is a sovereign nation. Russia is a sovereign nation, too. And we build our relations in full compliance with the norms and principles of international law that exist in this sphere."

"If a side has any questions in any domain of our cooperation, we tackle them on a bilateral basis," Russia’s top diplomat added.

"If an American or any other foreign ambassador from across the ocean suspects something, he or she had better mind their own business," Lavrov said. Referring to depleted uranium shells, he said that Russia "never violates international norms, unlike our Western counterparts who do so, while declaring their neutrality on the developments in Ukraine, as they pump that country with large amounts of the latest long-range and generally unsafe weapons, including for those who use them."

The West has been sending weapons to the Kiev regime, "whose officials have voiced threats to kill all Russians," Lavrov stressed. "Therefore, US ambassadors had better take care of their own image in the eyes of the foreign public," he concluded.

Russia blames Kiev for Moscow drone attacks

Russia's Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of targeting Moscow with eight drones on Tuesday, adding that all the drones involved in the incident were downed. "This morning, the Kiev regime launched a terrorist drone attack on targets in the city of Moscow," the defense ministry said.

It added that three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control, and deviated from their intended targets and that another five drones were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region.

UAV launches have been banned in Moscow and in many parts of the country, after the drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month.

But this morning, several buildings in the Russian capital were targeted in a drone attack, said Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, adding that "in the early hours of this morning, a UAV attack caused minor damage to several buildings. No one has been seriously injured. All emergency services in the city are on the scene. Please only trust official sources of information and do not spread unverified information."

The mayor said that residents were evacuated from the two drone-hit buildings, adding that "for safety reasons, during the work of emergency services, measures were taken to evacuate residents of several entrances in two houses that were hit by a UAV," explaining that residents can return to their apartments after special services are done with their work.

A spokesperson for emergency services told Sputnik that drones hit two residential buildings in southern Moscow: on Profsoyuznaya Street and Atlasova Street, but no one was injured. "A drone hit the upper floors of a residential building on Profsoyuznaya Street 98. The facade and glazing of the house were destroyed. There were no casualties," he said.