Lavrov: NATO’s encroachment of Russian borders signifies malevolent plans

MOSCOW (TASS): NATO’s encroachment of the Russian borders is a testament to its malevolent plans against Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

“NATO once promised to stop approaching the Russian borders. We are used to the fact that our Western colleagues, having signed up to many correct commitments in the 1990s, begin simply ignoring them, and when we ask them to re-confirm what has been promised, for instance, the principle of indivisibility of security, that no one in the Euro-Atlantic region can consolidate its security at the expense of the security of others, they are seeking to dodge this principle and are afraid of confirming it. The conclusion seems to be very simple: it means they are hatching some malevolent plans against Russia,” he said.

“I wish I were wrong, but concrete steps are needed to see how sincere our Western partners are in their statements that they are ready to normalize relations with Russia. Concrete initiatives are on the table but we see no concrete answers,” Lavrov added.

The Ukranian issue and NATO

Russian Foreign Minister also remarked that Moscow sees no added value in discussing the Ukrainian issue with NATO members and it will not participate in any debates on the issue without a constructive agenda.

“When we are invited into the Russia-NATO Council in order to discuss Ukraine, we know very well in advance what this is all about. We have heard it many times. We see nothing new, no added value in discussions of this sort. Everything that we were told before on this kind of platform merely repeats the public statements our NATO counterparts pronounce in front of the microphones every day. This is not a topic that we are prepared to discuss with NATO members,” he said.

Lavrov explained that Moscow’s reluctance to participate in such deliberations on the Ukrainian issue stemmed from the absence of anything constructive. The net effect of trips to Brussels is confined to hearing “groundless accusations” Russia fails to comply with the Minsk Accords and to NATO’s attempts to protect “the policy of the Ukrainian leadership of clearing its territory of the Russian language, Russian education and Russian language mass media – in fact, of any opposition forces”.

“But let me stress once again: Russia is always prepared to discuss the tasks of military de-escalation on the engagement line and the return to the principles that the members of NATO and Russia put signatures to at the highest level,” Lavrov said. “Our concrete proposals are being considered by Brussels. We very much hope that two years were enough time to understand them. And things there are not complicated at all, but agreement on our proposals will really, in practice, ensure a small, but still concrete de-escalation of the situation”.