Moscow, July 8 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said NATO's efforts to turn Ukraine into a strategic military foothold left Moscow with no choice but to launch its 2022 military operation, RT reported.

"The appearance of NATO bases in Ukraine and its involvement in the military alliance represents an immediate threat to our national security," he said.

Lavrov, in an interview with Hungary's Magyar Nemzet, insisted NATO has long abandoned its defensive role, citing interventions in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya: "From whom were NATO countries defending themselves there? Who attacked them?" he asked, RT noted.

Highlighting NATO's eastward expansion, Lavrov claimed Ukraine was intentionally weaponised: "The West instead continu...