Lavrov says World War III has already begun

Lavrov: World War III has already begun and Russia is fighting alone

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared on Sunday that World War III has already started. Not in the manner of 1939, but "in a new form": a proxy war in which, according to his account, the West seeks Russia's strategic defeat. At the "Territory of Meanings" forum, he added that Moscow is fighting alone against a bloc made up of the US, NATO, the EU and "others" — up to a hundred countries. He also warned that Germany and other Alliance members are preparing for a direct military confrontation.

The analysis that sees a total war underway

Some argue the escalation already erupted in July. NATO would be attacking Russian refineries using Ukraine as an intermediary; Russia would respond against munitions factories in Italy and against Saudi targets through the Houthis. The blockade of Ukrainian grain and the boarding of ships on the high seas would complete a picture of confrontation by proxy.

The contradiction that punctures the narrative

Skeptics have an argument you can actually touch: the fuel pump. If there were a total war, petrol and diesel would already cost 5 euros a litre and diesel in the US would be 10 dollars a gallon. They are not. And if a hundred countries are counted on one side, North Korea would have to be listed on the other. The narrative sounds like a broken record: Lavrov repeats the same urgency every so often. The puzzling detail: the most detailed analysis of the conflict matches the headlines, but energy markets behave as if the war were not happening.