MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The US-led collective West declared war on Russia long ago, most notably, after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Great Game program, an excerpt of which was aired by Channel One on Wednesday.

"The collective West, which is headed by a nuclear power - the United States, is at war with us. This war was declared on us quite a long time ago, after the coup d’etat in Ukraine that was orchestrated by the United States and, in fact, backed by the European Union, and after the Minsk agreements that nobody was going to implement, as it now appears, and Ms. Merkel (Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel - TASS) confirmed that once again," the Russian foreign minister said.

In an interview with the German national weekly Die Zeit published on December 7, Merkel described the conclusion of the Minsk agreements in 2014 as an attempt to give Ukraine time to get stronger. She argued that it was clear to everyone that the conflict was stalled and the problem had not been resolved, "but this was what gave Ukraine invaluable time." She expressed doubt as to whether NATO countries would have been able to provide support to Kiev at that time to the same extent that they were doing now.