US directly involved in Nord Stream blasts, claims Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday (February 2) accused the United States of having been directly involved in Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions. He was speaking in an interview on state TV and he offered no evidence to substantiate his claims. Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin had accused Britain of blowing up the pipelines. The accusation was denied promptly by the UK then.

In the interview, Lavrov also claimed that the West was lying about Russia's refusal to negotiate to end Ukraine crisis. He additionally alleged that there were attempts from the West to turn Moldova, Georgia and ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia against Russia.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year. After sustained territorial gains in the first few months of the conflict, the Russian forces had to retreat in the face of Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukraine has received aid and weapons from western countries.

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Lavrov, on Thursday, accused the West of wanting to inflict lasting defeat against Moscow. He lashed out againstEuropean Union chief Ursula von der Leyen as she visited Kyiv.

"Ursula von der Leyen... said that the outcome of the war should be the defeat of Russia, the kind of defeat that for decades, for many decades, Russia cannot restore its economy," Lavrov said in comments aired on Russian state television.

"Is this not racism, not Nazism -- not an attempt to solve 'the Russian question'" Lavrov added, evoking Russia's victory against Nazi Germany in World War II.

The European Commission chief announced she had arrived in Kyiv with a team of commissioners and the bloc's most senior diplomat earlier on Thursday, a day before a Ukraine-EU summit in the war-torn country.

(With inputs from agencies)

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