Baku, Jun 25 (IANS): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the European Union (EU) and NATO were building a coalition to engage in a war with Moscow and compared them to "Hitler during World War II".

"When World War II broke out, Hitler united a significant number, if not most, of the European countries under his banner for a war against the Soviet Union," TASS News Agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a press conference following talks with Azerbaijani top diplomat Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku on Friday.

"Today, the EU and NATO are acting in a similar way, building a modern coalition of the same kind for a fight and pretty much a war against Russia," he added.

Regarding the EU candidate status for Ukraine, the Minister said that Russia does not see any risks to its interests.

"The EU is not a political bloc like the NATO. The development of its relations with any willing countries does not create threats or risks for us."

Lavrov further said that his country is "under no illusion that the EU will change its attitude to Russia, or abandon Russophobic policies".

"The EU keeps making it clear that it does not intend toimplement the existing economic, humanitarian and internal security agreements between Russia and EU nations. It doesn't want to carry out the tasks that were outlined based on the lofty goals of creating a common space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. All this has been left behind, becoming a thing of the past."