Russia tells West: any aggression will be met with 'decisive response'

By Tom Balmforth and Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the West on Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a "decisive response," warning against attempts to down aircraft in Russian airspace and accusing Germany of militaristic rhetoric.

As Russia's war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along NATO's eastern flank in recent weeks as Estonia said Moscow sent three fighter jets into its airspace and NATO warplanes shot down Russian drones over Poland.

"Any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among those in NATO and the EU who ... are telling their voters that war with Russia is inevitable," he told the United Nations General Assembly.

The spate of airspace incursions linked to Russia has unnerved countries in eastern Europe where Russia is seen as the biggest threat since the end of the Cold War. Hopes have dimmed of any imminent end to Moscow's war in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that he endorsed the idea of shooting down Russian jets that violate NATO airspace, part of a rhetorical shift that saw him mock Russia's military performance in Ukraine and call it a paper tiger. 

Lavrov brushed off Trump's most recent remarks during a press conference that followed his General Assembly speech, but issued a warning about any moves against aircraft inside Russia.

"If there are attempts to down any flying object, any object... in our airspace, then I think people will very much regret undertaking such an egregious violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty," he said.

He said that only the "politically blind" would expect Ukraine to one day return to the borders it had before Russia invaded in February 2022, an indirect response to Trump's assertion that Kyiv could retake all its occupied land from Russia.

Lavrov also singled out German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to what he said was "militaristic rhetoric" and said Moscow was alarmed by remarks by politicians in EU and NATO capitals of a looming World War Three as a "likely scenario."

RUSSIA HOPES FOR 'FRANK DIALOGUE'

Despite taking aim at NATO and the European Union, Lavrov made clear Moscow remained hopeful of "frank dialogue" with the United States under Trump despite the U.S. president's recent shifting stance.

The U.S. and Russia, he said, will hold a third round of talks in the coming months aimed at improving each other's embassy operations, which have been severely curtailed by a decade of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions and other curbs.

Lavrov met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.

Lavrov said he did not see economic relations between Russia and India as under threat, as Trump has placed tariffs on products from India, calling on it - and China - to stop purchasing Russian oil.

RUSSIA CONCERNED OVER US BUILDUP NEAR VENEZUELA

Despite his cautious tone on Trump, Lavrov voiced alarm over a U.S. naval build-up and military action in international waters around Venezuela to combat drug cartels, describing the situation as "very serious."

Without naming the U.S., Lavrov questioned whether "certain creative actors" could try to use a proposed draft U.N. Security Council resolution to create a larger international force to fight gangs in Haiti to justify an attack within Venezuela.

The draft text being considered by the 15-member body has been put forward by the U.S. and Panama. It needs at least nine votes and no vetoes by Russia, China, the U.S., France or Britain to pass.

"I cannot rule out that certain creative actors could think of getting a mandate at the Security Council and later say that there are gangs from Haiti harbored in Venezuela. I cannot rule that out," said Lavrov.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Michelle NicholsEditing by Nick Zieminski and Deepa Babington)