March 3, 2024 (EIRNS)—At a press conference following the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Türkiye on March 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explained Russia’s viewpoint of the relationship with NATO nations and the West. “The situation clearly indicates that the ‘war camp’ in Europe is still very strong.... The latest statements by both Macron and Austin, and the conversation of German generals still indicate that the ‘war party’ still does not want to change its course to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. We understand it,” he said, according to TASS.
Continuing he said: “These trends in the West, among the Western leadership, of course, they cancel out all assurances that the West is interested in some kind of political settlement.”
Russian media on March 1 released leaked audio from a Feb. 19 phone call between German generals who were strategizing on various ways of increasing their involvement in the Ukraine war, including potentially helping Ukraine to blow up Russia’s Kerch Strait Bridge to Crimea and send long-range Taurus missiles. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said March 2 that authorities were investigating the situation, and called it a “very serious matter” in comments to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Vatican.
Scholz said German authorities were working to clarify the matter “very carefully, very intensively and very quickly.” Germany’s Ministry of Defense also said it was investigating whether communications within the Air Force [Luftwaffe] were intercepted by Russia, DPA reported.
Lavrov also made it clear that Moscow has seen no serious proposal for peace talks from the Kiev regime or its NATO backers. “This is not a question for us,” Lavrov said when asked about the potential talks and Ankara’s readiness to provide a platform for such a dialogue, reported TASS. “We confirm once again … that Russia has never given up on [peace] talks,” he said, adding that this question has been raised “more than a dozen of times.”
