Russia Seeks To Achieve From West Regard For Its Interests

Russia knows from its own mistakes what statements of the West are worth, and it will seek to achieve that they take into account Russia’s legitimate interests, Sergey Lavrov told the Voskresnoye Vremya program on Channel One on Sunday.

According to the top diplomat, Russia is facing serious problems now because the West acted carelessly and dishonestly towards Russia’s interests. "It could have been different, but history has no subjunctive mood. We have become wiser. They say one can learn only from one’s own mistakes. Now we know what the West’s words are worth," Lavrov stressed.

"We will now seek to achieve not only pledges, political commitments ‘on paper’, but also legally binding guarantees that would ensure security across the European continent with the full and equal regard for the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation," Lavrov said.

Relations between Russia and the US looked absolutely cloudless in the early 1990s, he said. "Of course, there was a touch of euphoria. It seemed to those who were determining the foreign policy, that all problems would be settled automatically, since Russia would become part of a "civilized" world, Western culture, the architecture of security, and would get strong support on different tracks," Lavrov added.

In the same time, the West was confident that Russia would now follow the path meeting its interests, and this continued rather long in the 1990s, he said. However, at the start of the 2000s, Russia regained the historical and national self-awareness.

President Vladimir Putin’s Munich speech in 2007 came as the landmark. "Reputed authors of a number of US scientific, political magazines draw attention to Russia’s statement of 2007 about its concerns, and about agrowing disillusionment in the West and its interests. They say directly that Putin’s words fell on deaf ears back then," Lavrov added.