Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia cannot join NATO because the West does not want to have rivals comparable in influence in the international arena. The Foreign Minister added that the alliance is not a defensive project, no matter how NATO claims otherwise. Lavrov also said that the Kremlin does not want to turn Russia into a "besieged fortress" under pressure from the West, but Moscow will not "run" after the United States and ask for the lifting of hostile sanctions. Lavrov said that Russia's entry into NATO is impossible due to the very essence of Western politics.
"Of course not. I don’t see such a situation, ”he said on the air of the Soloviev Live channel, answering the question whether Russia can join the alliance on an equal and partner basis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2000 said in an interview with the BBC that he did not rule out the country's entry into NATO. “In the event that Russia's interests are taken into account, if it is a full partner,” he added. In 2017, Putin said that during one of his last meetings with former US President Bill Clinton (who served as head of state until 2001), he suggested that he think about Russia's entry into NATO. Clinton, according to Putin, replied that he was not against it, after which "the entire American delegation became nervous."
Lavrov, in an interview with Soloviev Live on December 27, also explained that today "the whole process does not revolve around NATO or the European Union." According to Lavrov, the whole problem lies in the fact that the West, in principle, does not want "to have any competitors in the international arena that are in the slightest degree comparable in terms of influence."
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry linked this position with the "hysteria" in the West over China's economic success. “[China] has risen because it accepted the rules of the game that the West introduced into the world economy, world finance, and, according to the rules of the West, it outplayed the West in its own field,” Lavrov said.
He added that NATO is not defensive in nature, although leadership officials insist on this. According to the minister, the North Atlantic Alliance is a "purely geopolitical project" for the development of territory that turned out to be ownerless after the collapse of the Soviet Union. According to Lavrov, the alliance has already “swung to the doorstep” of Russia, and this cannot leave Moscow indifferent.
"If NATO were a defensive alliance, as [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg continues to speak at every corner, NATO would not expand eastward," Lavrov summed up.
He noted that Russia has doubts that NATO will not try to habitually ignore the uncomfortable questions for itself and bypass Russia's demand not to expand eastward.
“The main thing, as the president said, is that there is no chatter, so that our proposal is not wrapped up in endless discussions, for which the West is famous and knows how to do it. And that was the result of all these diplomatic efforts, ”Lavrov expressed hope.
In mid-December, Russia proposed a draft agreement on common security guarantees to the United States and NATO. In particular, Moscow asked NATO not to expand further east and not to accept the former USSR countries into the alliance. Thus, the demand also affects Ukraine, which has long been talking about its desire to join NATO.
Stoltenberg has already said that the alliance will not compromise on Ukraine's accession, since each country must decide for itself whom to join.
So far, Russia is awaiting a response from the West to the proposal received. As Lavrov specified, Moscow will begin negotiations with American representatives immediately after the New Year holidays.
He explained that Moscow did not set any time ultimatums and did not demand that the West give an answer to the proposed guarantees by such and such a date. However, Lavrov clarified, Moscow still wants to receive a response within a certain time frame, and not to arrange endless negotiations, "when the West again starts to promise something ambiguous, and then it will definitely deceive."
On the air of Soloviev Live, Lavrov, in addition, touched on the topic of Western sanctions against Russia. He said that the Kremlin will never "run" after the United States and ask Washington to change its policy to friendly. “We have never asked anyone to remove the sanctions from us. We will not even humiliate ourselves in front of anyone, ”Lavrov said.
He added that the plans of the Russian leadership do not include the transformation of Russia into a "besieged fortress" due to disagreements with the West.
bbabo.Net