EXCLUSIVE: West working to ‘deprive Russia of right to determine its future’ & is pushing for ‘regime change,’ Lavrov tells RT
Saber rattling in the West is down to the fact that the US and EU have woken up to the idea of Russia as an independent power, and they don’t appreciate the challenge, according to Moscow’s top diplomat, who spoke frankly to RT.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke out during an interview marking RT’s 15th anniversary, in which he took a look back at the last two decades. He cited the West’s realization that Russia could go its own way as the most significant event in foreign policy in that time, adding that “Russia will always put its national interests first, and it will honestly and equally settle those national interests with any other country on the basis of international law, but they won’t be overshadowed.”
At the same time, Lavrov observed, this principle causes tensions, adding that “our Western colleagues are trying to deprive Russia of the right to independently determine our future. There are attempts to push regime change. They are barely hiding this at all.”
Also on rt.com Lavrov says Russia will work with next US president, if there is ‘mutual respect,’ but Moscow isn’t holding out much hopeMoscow’s approach to conflicts around the world has also been a bone of contention, he admitted, arguing that Washington and EU capitals were working to prevent Russia from “achieving results” overseas. “Recently, we’ve been accused of interfering in Belarus and intervening in Nagorno-Karabakh just to strengthen our geopolitical position… This is the only lens that analysts in Europe and the US, and particularly in Britain, look through.”
Lavrov was also uncharacteristically blunt in his assessment of Western approaches to global relations, arguing that the political unrest that has paralyzed Belarus in recent months amounts to a “color revolution.” Commenting on the most recent round of sanctions levelled against Belarusian and Russian officials, he said that there would always be reasons for punitive measures. “The West knows how not only to look for them, but also to invent them out of the blue.”
Lavrov is one of Moscow’s longest-serving diplomatic chiefs, having held the role since 2004. In October, a poll of Russians revealed that he was the second most popular politician in the country, ranking second only to President Vladimir Putin.
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