Russia’s foreign minister rejects having plans to attack NATO or EU

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the NATO military alliance and the European Union that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response”.

As Russia’s war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along NATO’s eastern flank in recent weeks as Estonia has accused the Kremlin of sending three fighter jets into its airspace and NATO jets shot down Russian drones in Polish airspace.

“Russia is being accused of almost planning to attack the North Atlantic Alliance and European Union countries. President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations,” Lavrov told the United Nations General Assembly.

US President Donald Trump said this week that he endorsed the idea of shooting down Russian jets that violate NATO airspace, part of a rhetorical shift in which he appeared to mock Russia’s military performance in Ukraine and call it a paper tiger.

The United States also told the UN Security Council it would “defend every inch of NATO territory.”

Mr Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister for more than two decades, said his country was alarmed by remarks by some politicians in EU and NATO capitals of a looming World War III as a “likely scenario”.

They “openly discuss preparations for attacks on our territory in Kaliningrad and other Russian regions,” Mr Lavrov said.

“These figures are undermining any efforts to find a fair balance of interests among all of the members of the international community by trying to impose their unilateral approaches on everyone else,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

Ukrainian long-range drones hit an oil pumping station in Russia’s Chuvashia region, causing a fire and suspending its operations, a Ukrainian security official said on Saturday.

“The SBU (security service) continues to impose sanctions on the Russian oil sector, which brings the aggressor country excess profits that go to the war against Ukraine,” the official told Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Israel had delivered a Patriot air defence system to his country and that it had been operational for the past month.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Zelensky added that he expects two more systems to arrive in the coming weeks, without specifying their country of origin.

Ukraine relies heavily on foreign air defence systems to protect its cities from Russian attacks.

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly requested the US-made Patriot systems.

In May, the New York Times reported that a system stationed in Israel would be sent to Ukraine after undergoing refurbishment.

Official confirmation of the delivery came only on Saturday.

According to media reports, Ukraine is set to operate a total of 10 Patriot batteries, including some from Germany.

with DPA