The British Foreign Minister Slammed Lavrov To His Face At The G20 Summit
- 31.10.2026, 11:48
Russia isn't winning.
At the G20 ministerial meeting, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused Russia of aggression and the killing of Ukrainian civilians. He rebuked Sergey Lavrov for the strike on Dnipro and called on him to tell the truth about the Kremlin’s failure in the war.
This was reported by the publication Sky News.
How a British Minister Slammed Lavrov
Miliband stated right at the negotiating table that Russia is failing in the war thanks to the resilience of the Ukrainians and the joint support of its allies.
“Let’s talk about what happened yesterday (October 29, 2026—Ed.) on the railroad in Dnipro. Just yesterday, your drones carried out an attack and killed 15 people,” the British Foreign Secretary told Lavrov.
The politician emphasized that this tragedy is just one of countless examples of the killing of civilians during nearly five years of full-scale invasion. He called on the international community to deprive dictator Vladimir Putin of the financial resources that allow him to continue his barbaric military actions.
“[Putin] thought at the time that he would easily win this war. But you are not winning. Thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian people and the solidarity of the countries around this table, you are not winning,” Miliband said.
The British diplomat also publicly called on Moscow’s representative to muster the courage to stop lying to his own leadership about the actual situation on the front lines.
“If you had the courage to tell the truth and do the right thing, you would tell Putin that he is not winning this war and will not win,” the British foreign minister emphasized.
These harsh statements came amid reports that Donald Trump recently blocked the imposition of new sanctions against the Kremlin.
Kaja Kallas joined in the criticism of Russia
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, joined in the scathing criticism of the Russian delegation; her comments were published by Der Stern. She called Lavrov’s actions provocative and pointed to the Kremlin’s numerous manipulations.
“Of course, he told quite a few lies and distorted the facts, which we were subsequently able to refute,” Kallas emphasized.
She noted that the Russian representative’s behavior demonstrates Moscow’s complete lack of willingness to engage in peace talks. Kallas called for maintaining sanctions pressure on the aggressor, particularly to ensure a ceasefire in the Black Sea.
“It is absolutely clear to us: to put an end to this war, pressure must be exerted on the aggressor,” she concluded.
The diplomatic standoff also led to the cancellation of a traditional ceremonial event. The summit organizers were forced to cancel the group photo session due to the categorical refusal of Ed Miliband and European representatives to appear in the same frame as Lavrov.
The Russian official himself tried to be ironic about what his Western colleagues were saying.
“If the most important thing for them is how they look in a group photo and who is standing next to them, then that speaks for itself,” he said.
It is telling that Lavrov’s flight to Atlanta, Georgia, lasted more than 20 hours, as the plane was forced to fly around countries that had closed their airspace to Russian aircraft, and a number of U.S. lawmakers insisted on a complete ban on his entry.