Russian FM accuses West of direct fighting in Ukraine

Western powers are fighting Russia through support for Ukraine, according to Lavrov. He criticized Westerners for providing military equipment, intelligence, and advisors, as well as for allowing mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. He also dismissed Zelenskyy's 10-point plan for ending the war.

Western powers through their support to Ukraine have effectively entered direct fighting against Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on September 23.

"You can call it anything you want, but they are fighting with us, they are straight-up fighting with us. We call it a hybrid war, but that doesn't change things," Mr. Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said he is seeking to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, a fellow nuclear power, and will not send American troops. His administration has also distanced itself from Ukrainian attacks into Russia itself.

But Mr. Lavrov pointed to the billions of dollars in Western military equipment provided to Kyiv since Russia attacked last year, as well as U.S. and British intelligence support and the presence of Western military advisors.

Westerners are "de facto fighting against us, using the hands and bodies of Ukrainians," Mr. Lavrov said.

"I think everybody present here who pays at least some attention to... the situation in Ukraine knows very well that Americans, Britons and others are fighting, first of all, through providing more and more weapons," he said.

He also pointed to the presence in Ukraine of Western mercenaries. The United States and several other Western governments say that they discourage citizens from traveling to Ukraine and that such fighters have gone on their own.