Putin’s official Lavrov launches assault on Britain as he slams UK’s ‘weak’ army
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has re-emerged from his unexplained absence to launch a blistering attack on Britain, ridiculing the UK’s “weak” military and nuclear capabilities.
The 75-year-old veteran had vanished from public view “in disgrace”, with reports suggesting he had fallen out of favour with Vladimir Putin due to his inability to organise a Budapest summit with Donald Trump.
There were also rumours that Lavrov had been battling a covert health issue. However, he returned today to lambast Britain, which the Kremlin views as its primary adversary for rallying Western support behind Ukraine. “You see, there was an empire, an empire that ruled practically the whole world,” Lavrov stated.
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“Now that empire no longer exists. Nor does the good old England they used to boast about, and they no longer have any economic power.
“Their military power is also relatively weak, including their nuclear arsenal, which they cannot actually control 100% themselves. But they have to compensate for this somehow. They compensate with this traditional English desire to, well, divide and rule everywhere.
“And there are also indecent ways to describe how they behave and what goals they pursue in doing so.”
He seized upon strange claims made by the FSB security service today that Ukrainian intelligence and MI6 had orchestrated the defection of an MiG-31 warplane crew along with his plane and a hypersonic missile.
(Image: AP)
These allegations seem to be a crude propaganda ploy from the Lubyanka, but Lavrov lashed out at “London’s role in provoking various situations”.
He added: “The recent incident where the FSB uncovered a scheme to coerce a Russian pilot, flying a fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal [Dagger] missile, to fly to Romania with the clear intent of downing the aircraft there and blaming Russia for an attack on the North Atlantic Alliance was also mentioned.
“But we will leave that aside. The FSB has revealed all this in great detail, and I’m unsure how the British will absolve themselves of it. Although their knack for emerging unscathed, much like a goose fresh out of the shower, is well known.”
