Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bitterly criticized Western nations Saturday for their "grotesque" fear of Russia, telling the United Nations that such states were seeking to "destroy" his country.
"The official Russophobia in the West is unprecedented, now the scope is grotesque," Lavrov said in a fiery UN General Assembly speech. "They are not shying away from declaring the intent to inflict not only military defeat on our country but also to destroy and fracture Russia."
Lavrov accused the United States of "playing with fire" around Taiwan in a speech sharply critical of Washington at the annual gathering at the United Nations.
Lavrov said Washington was trying to turn the entire world into its own backyard through sanctions. The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow following the February invasion of Ukraine.
