Lavrov levels western ‘Russiaphobia’ worse than in cold war

"This Russiaphobia is unprecedented. We never saw this during the Cold War," said Lavrov during an interview with Russian media on Sunday.

The US and the former Soviet Union emerged as the world’s only superpowers following the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, and, up until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, they engaged in a geopolitical and military competition that came to be known as the Cold War.

"Back then there were some rules, some decorum... Now, all decorum has been cast aside," added the Russian foreign minister who had just returned from a trip to the US and the EU countries.

He went on to slam efforts aimed at punishing Russia, while noting the American and European sanctions targeting Russia were "absurd and baseless." A host of sanctions have been imposed against Russia over 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The EU has blocked the import of products from Crimea and halted any European investment or real estate purchases and prevents cruise ships from stopping in Crimea.

Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum, in which the majority of people voted to separate from Ukraine and reunite with Russia.

The EU, however, considers the development as an "illegal annexation” and has imposed a raft of economic sanctions on Russia.

Russia, however, has categorically denied the allegations that it is responsible for the Ukrainian conflict.

KD