Friday 1 July 2022 01:18 AM 'New Iron Curtain descending on Europe', Russian foreign minister says trends now

Friday 1 July 2022 01:18 AM 'New Iron Curtain descending on Europe', Russian foreign minister says trends now
Friday 1 July 2022 01:18 AM 'New Iron Curtain descending on Europe', Russian foreign minister says trends now

Friday 1 July 2022 01:18 AM 'New Iron Curtain descending on Europe', Russian foreign minister says trends now

A new Iron Curtain has begun to descend across Europe following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's foreign minister has declared today.

Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Minsk after meeting with Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, said Russia will not trust the US or EU on anything 'from now on.'

'As far as an iron curtain is concerned, essentially it is already descending,' on Europe he said. 'They should just be careful not to pinch anything.'

It comes after the West heavily sanctioned Russia in retaliation for Putin ordering his troops into Ukraine, and began giving Kyiv weapons to drive back the assault.

Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Minsk after meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, warned European leaders 'not to pinch anything' as a new Iron Curtain descends across the continent

Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Minsk after meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, warned European leaders 'not to pinch anything' as a new Iron Curtain descends across the continent

He spoke after NATO agreed to reinforce its eastern flank, and declared Russia to be the biggest threat to the continent's security

He spoke after NATO agreed to reinforce its eastern flank, and declared Russia to be the biggest threat to the continent's security

Putin (right, meeting Indonesian President Joko Widodo today) has been hammered by sanctions and largely cut off from Western trade since the invasion

Putin (right, meeting Indonesian President Joko Widodo today) has been hammered by sanctions and largely cut off from Western trade since the invasion

What was the original  Iron Curtain?

The Iron Curtain was the name given to the political, ideological and later military barrier that separated western from eastern Europe between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Winston Churchill is credited with coining the term in a 1946 speech, when he said of Communist states: 'From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.'

He delivered the address at a time when the UK, US and Soviets were dividing Europe into 'spheres of influence' as they planned for a post-war peace that they hoped would avoid mistakes made after the end of the First World War.

Begun in good faith, the talks gradually fell apart as Stalin worked to create a buffer zone of allied eastern European states to shield Russia from attacks from central Europe, sparking fears among Western allies that the Soviets could become powerful enough to dominate the whole continent.

That led to the creation of NATO in 1949, in turn sparking the rival Warsaw Pact of Soviet states in 1955.

Trade, migration, cultural exchanges and communication between the two blocs was heavily restricted, as the two sides fought proxy wars against one-another, engaged in a nuclear arms race, and bid to beat each other in economically and technologically. 

Though the East-West boundary was largely ideological, it did include a number of physical borders - most notably the Berlin Wall that separated West Berlin from East Germany from 1961 until it fell in 1989.

The same year, Poland dissolved its Communist government and reestablished democracy - signalling the beginning of the end for the Iron Curtain which crumbled in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

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The original 'Iron Curtain' described the way Soviet Union and allied eastern European states sealed off contact with the West after the Second World War.

Now, Western nations have begun cutting themselves off from Russia and its allies over the war in Ukraine, arguing it is a threat to global security and established order.

Lavrov sought to dismiss Russia's growing isolation today, saying

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