The West is waging an almost real war against Russia, which they have been preparing for a long time, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, RIA Novosti reported.

"When we talk about what is happening there, in Ukraine, we say that this is no longer a hybrid war, but almost a real war, which the West has long prepared against Russia, seeking to destroy everything Russian: from language to culture, which has been in Ukraine for centuries, and forbidding people to speak their native language," the Russian diplomatic chief explained.

He stressed that Moscow is not giving up on negotiations, but the longer the West refrains from them, the harder it will be to find a solution to the conflict.

Lavrov recalled that representatives of NATO, the EU and the White House have stated directly that it is too early for Ukraine to start negotiating and that "we need to win back more in this situation."

Threatening other countries not to work with Russia, he said, the U.S. is already crossing all red lines.  "The pressure that the U.S. puts on African countries, it is not only on them, but also on Asian, Latin American countries, constantly publicly declaring that those who cooperate with Russia, they will be sorry, threaten the large states that represent the great millennial civilizations ... By threatening and exerting pressure, the United States, and the British too, are crossing all the red lines," the minister said.