On Ukraine Crisis, Foreign Minister Lavrov: If It Was Up To Russia, There Would Be No War

Illustration of military on the Ukrainian border. (Wikimedia Commons/Anton Holoborodko)

JAKARTA - Earlier this week, Russia received a written response from the United States to a security guarantee proposal submitted by Moscow last month, in a bid to reduce tensions with NATO over Ukraine.

"If it were up to Russia, there would be no war. Moscow does not want war, but it will not allow the West to ignore its interests," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with four of Russia's main radio stations on Friday, citing Sputnik News January 28.

The interview with Russia's foreign minister follows the submission of written responses from the US and NATO to a proposal for Russian security guarantees submitted by Moscow in mid-December amid rising tensions over Ukraine.

The contents of the response have not been made public, with NATO and the US saying they hoped Moscow would not disclose it either. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said they would uphold NATO's 'open door' policy.

One of the proposed paragraphs of the Russian draft agreement would oblige NATO to provide written assurances that their power would not expand further east.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Пресс-служба езидента )

Moscow stressed that countries that became members of NATO in May 1997, before the first Eastern European countries were invited to join the bloc, should not "deploy military force and weapons on the territory of other countries in Europe" that already existed at the time. that.

"We received an answer just the day before yesterday, which, in such a Western style, overshadows the negotiations in many ways, but there is some rationality, as I have already said on secondary issues," Foreign Minister Lavrov said.

According to the foreign minister, Russia wants to "work honestly" when it comes to security guarantee proposals, but the West is "hysterically" developing the topic of alleged Russian threats to Ukraine.

Lavrov stressed that if the US and NATO do not change their stance on Russia's security proposals, Moscow will not change its stance either.

"If they insist that they won't change their position, neither will we change ours. It's just that their position is based on wrong arguments, on a misrepresentation of facts, and ours is based on what everyone agrees with. And I don't see that there is room for compromise," Lavrov said.

Ukrainian military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Ministry of Defense of Ukraine)

Commenting on the threat of sanctions from the United States and the Allies, Foreign Minister Lavrov said the sanctions were tantamount to severing relations between countries and Washington understood this.

"Regarding the threat of sanctions. America was told, the package now mentioned, which is accompanied by a complete shutdown of the financial and economic system controlled by the West, is tantamount to severing ties. It was mentioned, and I think, they understood it," he explained.

Minister Lavrov also touched on the dispute over Russian diplomatic property in the US. He said that if US 'rudeness' towards diplomatic missions continued, Russia had reserves to equalize the number of diplomats. The next meeting with the US to discuss diplomatic properties will be held within two weeks, the minister added.

"Well, let's see, in the next few weeks, there should be another meeting. Now there is direct bargaining from the American side," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

To note, according to Russia's security proposals, both sides must provide written guarantees that are legally binding on each other, not to deploy troops and military equipment in areas where they could be viewed as a threat to the other.

Russia and the US should also limit the spread of nuclear weapons abroad. In addition, Moscow expects the US and NATO to make a commitment not to expand the alliance to the east and never to accept Ukraine or any other former Soviet republic into NATO.