Russia launched a military intervention against Ukraine on February 24 last year. While one year was left behind in the war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came to the fore in the speech he made in India within the scope of the G20 Summit. Lavrov said, “The ‘West’ started the invasion of Ukraine. We are trying to stop the war that Ukraine has opened against us,” said Lavrov, causing laughter in the hall, while someone in the hall was heard saying ‘Come on out of there’.
“WEST STARTED THE INVASION OF UKRAINE”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the Raisina Dialogue Conference after attending the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Summit in New Delhi, the capital of India. Touching on the Russia-Ukraine war in his speech, Lavrov argued that the invasion of Russia was a just action. After a participant asked Lavrov, “How did the war affect Russia’s energy strategy and will it be a privilege for Asia?” Lavrov was mocked for his answer. “The ‘West’ initiated the invasion of Ukraine. We are trying to stop the war that Ukraine has opened against us,” said Lavrov, causing laughter in the hall, while someone in the hall was heard saying ‘Get out of there’.
“YOU WILL SEE NATO VIOLATION OF ALL THESE COMMITMENTS”
Answering the question from his own perspective on many issues, Lavrov replied to the moderator’s question about the reasons for the tension between Russia and NATO, “I assume that the people here (in the hall) are people who have knowledge of what is going on or are following it. In this case, the reasons for our concerns over the last 20 years should be understood. At the OSCE summit held in Istanbul in 1999, a top-level political declaration was signed that no state can strengthen its own security, although the basic principle is the indivisibility of security and countries have the right to choose their allies. “The article is not to assume a dominant military role in the OSCE area. If you read these articles again, you will see that NATO violated all these commitments. All these principles were confirmed at the OSCE summit in Astana in 2010.”
Emphasizing that they started to question their own security after these processes, Lavrov said, “We asked if they would stop NATO’s expansion. They replied that this was just a political commitment. They looked us in the eye and said that legally binding security guarantees can only be given to NATO members.” claimed to have been violated by Lavrov also added that the Minsk Agreements signed in 2014, aimed at resolving the crisis in Ukraine, were repeatedly violated by Western countries.
Underlining that the problem in Ukraine should be resolved through negotiations, Lavrov also argued that the Western countries are against this, “Everyone asks when Russia will be ready for negotiations. The West constantly says that the war must be won on the ground (by Ukraine) before the negotiations.” He added that it is open to negotiations. In his last question, the moderator of the conference reminded that there was an energy crisis due to the war, and when asked whether Russia would continue to deliver gas to India, he said, “Russia’s energy policy will target reliable partners, including India and China.”
Source: UAV