Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated in an interview published today that his country will do everything possible to ensure that the West takes seriously and understands Moscow’s proposals on security guarantees.
“I hope that, taking into account the actions we are taking to reliably ensure our defense capacity, we will be taken seriously,” the Russian Foreign Minister told RT television, speaking of the priorities on his country international agenda.
He further noted that Moscow plans to activate a negotiating platform with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in January 2022, to discuss its proposed agreement between both parties, which includes possible legal security commitments.
In response to one of the questions, Lavrov considered the statements of the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, about the initiatives presented by Russia on security guarantees, although he warned that the official concludes his mandate this year.
He stated that Stoltenberg speaks “arrogantly” about the inviolability of the principle of the Washington Treaty that opens the doors to any possible candidate who wishes to join NATO, while Russia recalls that it is not part of that structure, nor is it a signatory of that treaty.
“We are signatories to a broader Euro-Atlantic regional document that contains the principle of indivisibility of security,” he said, referring to one of the norms contained in the statutes of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
“If Mr. Stoltenberg believes that NATO members have the right to spit on this principle, which is enshrined in the documents adopted at the highest level, it is probably time for him to go to another job, because he does not fulfill his responsibilities”, he expressed.
The head of Russian diplomacy stressed that his country is not interested in conflicts and does not want a war, but will strictly guarantee its security with the means it deems necessary.
“And we warn impulsive heads, and there are such in Ukraine – and many – and in the West,” he noted.
Lavrov denounced the recent blocking of the transmission of the Russian television channel RT DE, in Germany, and said that the country’s authorities are responsible for ensuring that “this arbitrariness stops.”
