Sergey Lavrov warns that a European attack on Russia would trigger a “completely different and very short” war

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Wednesday that a military conflict between Russia and Europe would be “completely different and very short” if Europe attacked Russia. He made the statement in Yekaterinburg, amid growing tensions between Moscow and European states.

Lavrov said that Russia does not intend to attack Europe and that confrontation is not Moscow’s “method.” At the same time, he warned that deploying Western military contingents to Ukraine would amount to a declaration of war against Russia. The minister did not provide details about the duration he referenced and did not directly mention nuclear weapons.

The Russian official criticized NATO’s expansion and statements by European leaders about the need to prepare for a possible war with Russia. He also said that Moscow does not intend to return to the close relations with Europe that existed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The warnings came after an incident in the Baltic Sea. Russia said that one of its corvettes fired signal flares at a Danish helicopter in international waters. Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador, while Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused Moscow of intensifying its hybrid war against Europe.