Lavrov-US & NATO 'Directly Involved' In Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been speaking at a press conference, with a number of comments making headlines. Comes as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) holds its annual foreign ministers' meeting in Lodz, Poland. Russia is a member but Lavrov has not been invited, with Poland citing EU sanctions on the Russian minister.

• Lavrov states that the US and NATO 'are directly involved in the Ukraine conflict'. More talk of US and NATO involvement could be seen as tacit threat from Moscow of a broader conflict on the horizon.
• Following collapse of New START nuclear treaty renewal talks: 'Our responsibility on nuclear arms with the US has not gone away'.
• Says that the 'old format of relations between Russia and the West is gone'. Says that the US 'broke up' the OSCE, and its doing the same to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Says that NATO attempted to 'drag India into an anti-China, anti-Russia alliance, but failed'.
• Asked why Russia is targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including annexed territories it claims as its own, Lavrov states, "We were bombing Nazis in Stalingrad, too".