Lavrov accuses Germany of seeking war with Russia amid Leipzig drone dispute

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Germany of seeking war with Russia again, escalating tensions after Berlin alleged Moscow placed booby-trapped drones at Leipzig airport. Russia denies the claim. Lavrov cited German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's recent pledge to make Germany Europe's top military power, warning of "metastases of Nazism" and saying history's lessons were unlearned. He dismissed the drone accusation as an uninvestigated pretext for war. The dispute follows Germany's closure of the Russian House in Berlin and the Russian consulate in Bonn. Russia retaliated by closing the Goethe Institute and summoning Germany's chargé d'affaires, while President Vladimir Putin called Germany's actions a "gross mistake."