America is not powerful enough to stand up to China and Russia, according to Vladimir Putin's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
During a rambling press conference in which he praised joint military drills between Moscow and Beijing, Lavrov compared the US to Adolf Hitler and Napoleon, who he said mobilised European countries against the Russian empire.
By supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invading forces, Lavrov claimed that Washington is leading Europe in a proxy war against Russia, with the goal of a 'Final Solution to the Russian Question' - likening it to Hitler's genocidal aims.
Russia's top diplomat was criticised by Israel last year for saying Hitler was part Jewish and that the worst anti-Semites were Jews, after being asked why Moscow incorrectly portrays Zelensky, who has a Jewish background, as a Nazi.
Speaking on Wednesday, Lavrov said the US was attempting to 'contain' both Russia and China with the help of other countries, but they were alert to its 'games'.
He told the gathered press that the West saw both countries as a threat - Russia right now, and China in the longer term as a systemic rival.
He said Washington was not powerful enough to keep in check both countries at once, so was mobilising Europe, Japan and others to join it. At the same time, he said, the West was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China.
Lavrov also accused the West of searching for ways to anger China on a host of issues, such as the status of Tibet and Taiwan - which lives under constant threat of invasion by China, which claims the self-ruled democracy as part of its territory to be retaken one day, by force if necessary. The US has said it would help defend Taiwan.
He said China was too powerful for the United States to stand against on its own should the two countries be drawn into a conflict, so Washington was being forced to 'mobilise' the West to support its anti-Beijing agenda.
'They have already outlined their positions on Taiwan, which are absolutely unacceptable for China and for international law, they are looking for more and more opportunities to irritate China in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong,' he said.
'Therefore, China is well aware that remaining in the Western system and completely dependent on the West is fraught with very serious risks for the fundamental national interests of China's development.'
His comments underlined the strategic importance to Moscow of its relationship with China at a time when its army is struggling in Ukraine and its economic links with the West have been wrecked by successive waves of sanctions.
Ties with Beijing had never been stronger, Lavrov said, and the two countries were shifting an increasing amount of their trade into their national currencies to reduce dependence on the West and exposure to sanctions.
Russia and China signed a 'no limits' partnership last February, days before Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine. Their economic links have boomed as Russia's connections with the West have shrivelled.
Putin has been relying on Beijing to bail him out amid the strong sanctions.
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