Moscow to get 'tough' with hostile Europe: Russia's Lavrov

Russia-Ukraine war: Lavrov said Russia had decided how to approach Europe as it was supplying the "criminal regime" in Kyiv with weapons and instructors.

The European Union has become hostile and has "lost" Russia, and Moscow will deal with Europe in a tough fashion if need be, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a joint press conference with his Nicaraguan counterpart following their talks in Moscow on March 30, 2023. (Photo by MAXIM SHIPENKOV / POOL / AFP) (AFP)

"The European Union has 'lost Russia. But it is its own fault," Lavrov told the website Argumenty i Fatky. "It is the EU member countries and EU leaders who openly declare it is necessary to inflict, as they call it, a strategic defeat on Russia."

Lavrov said Russia had decided how to approach Europe as it was supplying the "criminal regime" in Kyiv with weapons and instructors.

"In reply to hostile steps, we will act in a tough manner if necessary, based on Russia's national interests and the principles of reciprocity accepted in diplomatic practice."