MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. The decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons for strikes inside Russia was made long ago, and now the West is working its PR magic to present it to the public, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a roundtable on Ukraine on Thursday.

"We have no doubt that the decision to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons to attack Russia was made long ago. And now attempts are being made to wrap it in a nice package for the public to see," Russia’s top diplomat explained.

"We know perfectly well that the West calls the war it is waging on Russia existential. They seek to inflict a strategic defeat on us," Lavrov added.

Russia’s top diplomat recounted that "other notorious figures in the history of international relations" sought similar goals before. "No wonder numerous foreign politicians who still have an ounce of sense remind their more zealous counterparts that forgetting these lessons of history may have disastrous effects for them," he emphasized.