Lavrov: Russia’s relations with the West are now worse than they were during the Cold War
The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, stated in an interview with BBC that Russia's relations with the West are worse than during the Cold War period.
"We are losing the last remnants of trust in our western partners who prefer to act on very strange logic… There were channels of communication during the Cold War period. And there was no obsession with Russo phobia, which looks like genocide through sanctions,” Lavrov said, commenting on missile attacks against Syria carried out by the USA, Great Britain and France.
With regard to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, Lavrov noted that all the evidence provided by Western countries was based on information taken from mass media and social networks. "There is no evidence that chemical weapons were used on April 7 in the city of Douma. What actually took place is a set-up,” he said.
Lavrov also wondered why attacks against Syria were carried out a day before OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) experts were supposed to investigate the place of an alleged chemical attack.
The Russian Foreign Minister stated that there was no direct confrontation between Russia and the USA during the attacks due to current communication channels for coordinating actions in Syria. At the same time, he assured that attacks against Syria would not go unanswered. "Certainly, there will be consequences,” Lavrov said.
The USA, France and Great Britain carried out an attack against Syria on the morning of April 14. The targets of the attack were three structures related to the Syrian chemical program. According to Trump, the attack destroyed the scientific center that develops chemical weapons and a warehouse where illegal substances and precursors were stored. British and French air forces took part in the attack while cruise missiles were launched from American ships.