Russia has claimed that Germany ‘wants war again’ Berlin accused Moscow of orchestrating the drone attack on Leipzig airport last month.
German police deployed a bomb disposal unit and flights from the city were grounded after a UAV was found on the tarmac near a Ukrainian cargo plane on August 4.
Russia was blamed for the incident, with Germany saying ‘low-level agents’ were trying to carry out a ‘hybrid attack’ with an explosive-laden drone at the airport in East Germany.
However, Moscow and Berlin closed each other’s cultural centers this week, with EU countries summoning Russian envoys.
And Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has now claimed Berlin ‘wants war again’ as US negotiators meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev for peace talks on Sunday.
Mr. Lavrov said: ‘This is generally the beginning of a real war. They expelled the Consulate General from Bonn.
‘They are closure of the Russian House (cultural center) in Berlin. I remember before the Second World War started… They want war again.”
He also accused Germany of Nazism and said: “The Russian leaders will draw the right conclusions.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, pictured with Vladimir Putin, has accused Germany of ‘wanting war again’
Mr Lavrov also said that German Chancellor Freidrich Merz (pictured) is ‘declaring war’ on Russia.
Mr. Lavrov added that Berlin is “effectively declaring war” on Russia, referring to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s recent comments on German defense.
The Russian politician said: “All these statements by Merz about making Germany the leading military power in Europe again – they are being put into practice. In fact, he declares war on us.’
It comes after Vladimir Putin warned Russians earlier this week that they should ‘be prepared for anything’ like him He hinted that his war against Ukraine would escalate.
The leader gave no hope of an early end to the four-year conflict when he spoke at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
“We have to be prepared for anything,” he said when asked whether the current long fuel queues caused by Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries would disappear.
“Only our willingness to do anything will give anyone who wants to do us harm the understanding that it is better not to do so,” he said.
He promised that too launch retaliatory attacks on Ukraine so “they dare not harm us again” with more strikes at the oil refineries that have crippled its fuel supplies.
The Russian leader’s dire warning comes as the country faces a difficult summer, with nightly swarms of Ukrainian drones attacking oil refineries and setting fire to shopping warehouses.
Following the drone scare, an explosive ordnance disposal robot was deployed at Leipzig airport last month
The Janschwalde lignite power station is the largest in Brandenburg. It was targeted by ‘homemade explosive missiles’ on Tuesday (File photo)
Putin too ruled out peace talks and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “state terrorism.”
Despite Putin ruling out peace talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire last night, while US negotiators met Mr Putin in Moscow on Saturday to discuss peace.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kiev by train on Sunday to resume talks with Zelensky.
After the drone attack on Leipzig airport last month, a large power plant was opened in Germany on Tuesday targeted with ‘homemade explosive rockets’.
Local media reported that a key installation near the Janschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg was repeatedly bombarded with rockets this morning, while emergency services discovered and defused additional devices.
Police have not yet confirmed that the site was attacked with rockets. Speaking to the German news agency, they said possible damage to a power line had been discovered and bomb disposal experts were on the scene.
They added that several improvised explosive devices and incendiary devices were also discovered following a possible property damage incident earlier today.
Jan Redmann, the Interior Minister, later called the incident an “act of sabotage” and added that the number of devices found, currently in double figures, was still rising.
Germany has long accused Moscow of attacking the country with a campaign of hybrid attacks involving espionage and sabotage – accusations denied by Russia.
The country has been reporting suspicious drone sightings over military and industrial sites for months, but the incident in Leipzig on the night of August 4 raised the alarm when a drone found there was carrying explosives.
Police used a robot to disarm the device found near a Ukrainian cargo plane, and weeks later another drone was reportedly found near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.
The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German army and NATO allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said that Germany was increasingly “in the crosshairs of hybrid attackers.”
But Berlin has so far refrained from blaming Russia and only talked about the possible involvement of “foreign powers.”
