MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's Western partners have not yet overcome the “Cold War” mentality, and the Ukrainian crisis has become the most tragic manifestation of the accumulated problems, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.
“Unfortunately, the truth is that our Western partners have not managed to overcome the “Cold War” mentality, and this is a systemic problem. For years we have been trying to, and we will continue to do so, to convince the West that it is necessary to follow the agreements, which were reached in the beginning on 1990s and 2000s, when in the context of OSCE and the NATO-Russia Council the principle of indivisible security was declared,” Lavrov said is his interview with Russia’s Channel 5 broadcaster.
In particular, according to Lavrov, it was said on the highest level that “security must be equal and indivisible, and no country should strengthen its security at the expense of security of others.”
“This principle did not work, because NATO was expanding notwithstanding promises, the missile defense system has been developed, and the alliance’s military infrastructure has been drawing closer to our borders,” Lavrov stated.
“In Ukraine, our partner, the European Union has intended to unilaterally achieve economic advantages by signing an association and a free trade zone agreement with Ukraine, the major part of which contradicts with the country’s obligations under the agreements in the context of free trade agreement among CIS member states,” Russian Foreign Minister highlighted.
Lavrov added that this zone “has been operating and still operates, so agreeing with the EU on a trade regime, which contradicts Ukraine’s obligation in front of all of us, most likely was wrong.”
“I am saying this because the problems started long ago, and Ukraine is most likely the most cruel, the most vivid and the most tragic manifestation of problems, which have been systematically accumulated for many years,” Lavrov concluded.
