Lavrov addresses 81st UN General Assembly

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ©  Sputnik/Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has addressed the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York and set out Moscow’s position on the Ukraine conflict and global security while warning of the EU’s military buildup.

The top Russian diplomat arrived in New York earlier this week for a diplomatic marathon on the sidelines of the gathering, holding talks with senior officials from around the globe, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, and many others.

His General Assembly address follows a heated UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine earlier in the week, during which he reiterated Moscow’s readiness for negotiations but rejected calls to halt military operations during talks, arguing that a pause would allow Kiev to regroup and rearm.

READ MORE: No pause in Ukraine conflict for peace talks – Lavrov Lavrov stressed that the Ukraine conflict has deeper roots in NATO expansion, the failure of the Minsk agreements, and the rejection of Russia’s security proposals to the US and NATO in 2021.

The week’s diplomacy extended well beyond Ukraine. Talks with Arab officials covered tensions in the Middle East, including the US war against Iran and Israel’s continued hostilities in Gaza. Other meetings focused on bilateral ties and coordination at the UN.

The General Debate is being held at UN Headquarters from September 22 to 28 as part of High-Level Week, with the theme: ‘Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all’.

Russia would not like to see the agreements currently being reached concerning Palestine and the Strait of Hormuz suffer the same fate as those “ordained by the West through decisions made… regarding the Ukraine crisis,” Lavrov said.

Russian officials have long argued that the UK, France, and Germany undermined previous peace efforts, including in the 2014-2015 Minsk Agreements and the draft deal reached in Istanbul in 2022.

Lavrov said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul did not bring anything to their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Berlin had not already said publicly.

“He may as well have just called,” Lavrov said.

READ MORE: Russia not preparing for war with Europe – Putin Europe is preparing for war with Russia and constantly reiterates that it must be ready for the conflict by 2030, Lavrov said.

The European military buildup will eventually have to be put to use, he said.

“In that case, they will attack us, because we are not planning to,” the top diplomat said, recalling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that such a war would be a “short one.”

Russia believes that Russia and the US reached an agreement at Putin-Trump in Alaska in August 2025, which focused on the Ukraine conflict, Lavrov has said, stressing that Moscow is ready to return to it. 

Some analysts believe that Berlin is attempting to create the Fourth Reich, Lavrov said, recalling that Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly stated his goal is to make Germany “the leading military power in Europe again.”

“Does he understand the significance of the word ‘again’ in that statement?” the Russian top diplomat asked.

Moscow and the Trump administration maintain “regular dialogue in different formats,” Lavrov has said, stressing that this fact alone speaks of “normalcy” in relations.

While admitting the US often engages in hardball diplomacy, he stressed that it would be a mistake not to talk over issues on which the two powers are at odds.

Lavrov added that he believes the Trump administration wants to remove the Ukraine conflict from among the issues affecting Russia-US relations.

READ MORE: Ukrainian conscription officers detain Orthodox bishop amid church crackdown EU countries have helped return the remains of Nazi collaborators to Ukraine and are openly patronizing Vladimir Zelensky in his attempts to use them for building a “pantheon of heroes,” Lavrov has charged.

The Zelensky government has moved to entomb the remains of WWII Nazi Collaborators in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s oldest monastery. It is run by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been subject to a state-backed crackdown since 2014.

Russia supplied Türkiye with S-400 air defense systems under an end-user agreement requiring Moscow’s consent for any transfer abroad, Lavrov told a Turkish reporter, adding that Ankara has made no formal request to sell them.

Berlin has failed to cite any examples of Western-linked commercial ships being attacked by Russia, Lavrov said, stressing that all strikes on civilian shipping in the conflict zone were carried out by Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul requested a meeting at “the last hour,” Lavrov said, adding that while Russia remained open to diplomacy, Berlin’s overture contained nothing new and essentially contained demands for more concessions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, marking the first direct talks between the top Russian and German diplomats in four years.

The meeting was called at Berlin’s initiative, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. A video from the meeting shows Wadephul shaking hands with Lavrov and Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia.

Prior to the Lavrov-Wadephul meeting, Berlin demanded restrictions to media access, no Q&A session following the meeting, and a ban on recording opening remarks, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

“Western democracy, the beautiful garden,” she said on Telegram.

Lavrov has started his speech, noting that the world is undergoing tectonic shifts as it moves toward a multipolar order.

However, the Western global minority, which secured its dominance with five centuries of exploiting other nations resources, is attempting to maintain its privileges.

“The West increasingly resorts to brute force, acts unpredictably and recklessly, jeopardizing the lives and well-being of millions, if not billions, of inhabitants of our common planet,” he said.

The EU is pressing Serbia to join Western sanctions against Russia in exchange for an “elusive” prospect of membership in the bloc, Lavrov has said.

The EU is making every effort to derail the Ukraine peace talks, Lavrov has said, adding that this sentiment runs contrary to the stance of the US, which seeks to mediate the conflict.

Ukraine is the only country in the world that has legally banned a language, Lavrov has said, accusing Kiev’s European backers of turning a blind eye to the discrimination against the Russian language.

Lavrov demanded the immediate release of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, who was kidnapped by US special forces in January to face drugs charges in the US.

“We insist on the immediate release of the Venezuelan leader and his spouse, and that similar incidents do not occur in the future,” Lavrov said.

He added that Russia considers the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family an “unacceptable manifestation of power dictatorship.” Khamenei was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran in February.

Russia maintains that reform for the Security Council cannot include new seats for Western countries, especially Germany and Japan, which have “embarked on a path of militarization and revanchism,” Lavrov said.

Moscow advocates for increased representation for Asia, Africa, and Latin America, supporting Brazil and India’s candidacies for permanent seats, he added. Russia also advocates for the African Union’s Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration, which demand that Africa be given permanent representation in the Security Council.

The ruling elites of many EU nations are “infected with the virus of racial superiority” and espouse extremist Russophobic ideas, Lavrov said.

“They pander to the leaders of the Ukrainian regime as they honor, in Kiev, hardened war criminals and Nazi collaborators whose hands are stained up to the elbows with the blood of Russians, Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and people of other nationalities,” he said.

Dozens of diplomats took the chance to shake Lavrov’s hand as he left the UNGA hall, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Lavrov has concluded his address to the UN General Assembly.

Stay with us for coverage of his follow-up press conference.

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