When it comes to defense, Western European states completely submit to the US, the Russian foreign minister has claimed
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov © Sputnik / Mikhail Metzel
Moscow doesn’t need the type of European security that the West is trying to build without Russia and Belarus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
The West “is already trying to build a security architecture [in Europe] without Russia and Belarus. We don’t need such security,” Lavrov said during a video conference on Thursday.
“The whole security [architecture] in Europe now comes down to it being completely subjected to the US,” he claimed.
There were discussions in France and Germany about the creation of Europe’s own military force a couple of years ago, Lavrov noted.
But those ideas have now been set aside, with both Paris and Berlin saying they would stick with the US-led NATO bloc, he said.
Instead of working towards collective security in Europe, the West is “digging dividing lines,” Lavrov said. “When the EU and NATO understands the futility of their current line and the great risks that it involves, we [Russia] will look at what they’ll be ready to offer us when they come asking to discuss some other possibilities.”
Moscow and Minsk, which already have a joint military grouping on the territory of Belarus, will continue to boost their security cooperation, the Russian foreign minister said.
Both countries realize the importance of such work, “considering the continued provocations, including those by Ukraine,” he added. “All the necessary measures aimed at maintaining readiness to deal with any possible developments have been implemented,” Lavrov said.
