Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is being interviewed by three major Russian radio stations. RT is exclusively screening the event, also aired by radio stations Sputnik Radio, Echo of Moscow and Moscow Speaks.
22 April 2015
Lavrov confirmed that he told former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband not to lecture him during an intense conversation amid the 2008 Georgian crisis, but he didn’t use profane language to do so. The four-letter word did rise in the conversation, but that was a quote from a third person, who used it to describe then-Georgian President Saakashvili’s mental state. Miliband was trying to convince Lavrov to negotiate with Saakashvili.
Barack Obama de facto admitted Russia’s justification in taking Crimea in his interview with CNN, Lavrov believes. The US president compared his own actions in the Ukrainian crisis to those of Vladimir Putin. He admitted that the US had been acting as a power broker since the start of the crisis while Putin improvised with Crimea, which proves that the US acted according to a plan while Russia responded to what it saw as genuine threat to the people of Crimea, Lavrov explained.
In his interview, #Obama almost wanted to seem like #Putin. Said he turned Russian economy to dust. - #Lavrov
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
The UN Security Council is more efficient than its critics give it credit for. The case, like Ukraine or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which permanent members of the UNSC use their veto to block resolutions are widely publicized, while much more numerous examples when the security body successfully intervenes in conflicts in Africa remain in the shadow.
“The Security Council was created for leading powers to agree between them. The veto right is part of this crisis management process,” Lavrov said.
Russia is in a strong position to defend existing gas contracts with European consumers which the European Commission is challenging on antimonopoly charges. The contracts were signed before the EU introduced new rules under the so-called Third Energy Package, and standing international agreements forbid retrospective change of business contracts to the worse, Lavrov said.
READ MORE: EU charges Gazprom with abusing market position in Central & Eastern Europe
“We don’t have a goal to eradicate nuclear weapons from Earth. We have a goal to make the world a safe place. It means we have to take into account the military technology that was developed after nuclear weapons and that affects strategic stability,” he explained.
The US rejected the Chinese-Russian proposal for an international treaty to ban placement of weapons in space. It didn’t ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, despite Obama promising to do so. It’s developing hypersonic vehicles that can carry conventional warheads. NATO far surpasses Russia in conventional weapons. All these factors and the global strategic antiballistic missile system would make further nuclear disarmament by Russia compromise its national security, Lavrov assessed.
The US and NATO have hinted that they want to establish a mechanism to coordinate Russian warplane flights in international space close to NATO members, but have not applied for one formally, Lavrov said.
“There were no official requests. But they hinted about it.”
There have been no official complaints about Russia's jets, warships from NATO - #Lavrov
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
Neither Iran nor Russia is interested in developing a full-scale military alliance, Lavrov believes. The two are already cooperating closely in fighting terrorism and other areas.
“We received no propositions [for a formal military alliance] from the Iranian side. This is unrealistic and unnecessary,” the minister said.
The minister added that the US is violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by hosting its nuclear weapons in five foreign nations.
Russia doesn’t see it necessary to deploy its nuclear weapons in any region of the world, Lavrov replied to a question on whether Moscow would be interested in placing nuclear weapons in Latin America.
Russia doesn’t want to see Iran as a target for illegal use of force like Yemen, which partially explains why Moscow resumed its contract to supply S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Tehran, Lavrov said. He added that while there is speculation that Israel would retaliate by supplying drones to Ukraine, there has been no official confirmation of such intent.
“Those who want to attack Iran will think twice now,” the minister said.
We haven't broken any rules. We want to stimulate #Iran. We reached our goal - #Lavrov
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
The US can’t keep Ukraine in the fragile situation it’s in now for much longer, Lavrov warned, explaining why Kiev would not be able to stall the implementation of the Minsk agreement for years.
“I’m afraid they [Washington] would not be able to keep it [stalling the Minsk deal] for 10 years, or even two years, because the Ukrainian state is in very fragile state,” he said.
The West failed to pressure its protégés in Kiev into observing their obligations under a power sharing deal with then-President Viktor Yanukovich, which led to the deterioration of the situation and the humanitarian crisis at hand now, Lavrov said.
“If they pressured that former opposition, which wanted to stage a coup, to get back to the February 21 conditions, to prevent aggressive Russophobia and threats to seize buildings in Crimea and elsewhere, Yanukovich would still be president and certainly lose elections.
“We would still be selling gas at $168 price and provide the trenches of the $15 billion credit line. Why they went with it [the coup] I cannot explain,” he added.
Russia and China blocked a UNSC resolution that would allow foreign invasion into Syria, preventing it from going down Libya’s road, Lavrov said. This averted even greater destruction and misery in Syria.
Edward Snowden being given refuge in Russia was result of accidental events and Russia had no alternative but to grant him asylum, Lavrov said. Even the Obama administration understands the ambiguity of the situation and that ‘not everything is right’ with their demands to hand over Snowden, he added.
The US says it was involved in training the Ukrainian Army for two decades, but this didn’t save it from utter deterioration, Lavrov said. US efforts to train armies in Afghanistan and Iraq cannot be called success stories either, he added.
Second part of #Lavrov Q&A with 3 radio stations to start in 5 mins, stay tuned! http://t.co/6Gl07HxbQMpic.twitter.com/Xv1cWocl1K
— RT (@RT_com) April 22, 2015
Lavrov dodged a question of possible ambition to run for presidency, saying he is very fond of his current job and likes working with President Putin.
The US is putting leverage on one of the Eastern European countries to speed up dismantling of monuments to Soviet soldiers, Lavrov said. He would not name the country, but said it was one of those liberated by the Red Army from the Nazi Germany.
Americans are pressuring a European country (won't say which) to take down monuments to soviet soldiers fallen in WWII - #Lavrov
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
Russia is worried about the way the investigation of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight downing over Ukraine is being handled, Lavrov said. The probe is stalling and lacks proper transparency, he explained. Moscow would be grateful for any information that would shed light on this tragedy.
A union between Russia and Germany would rattle the EU politics and boost European politicians, who are interested in pursuing national interests rather than toeing the American line, Lavrov said.
The so-called ‘Normandy format’ [France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine] was proposed by French President Francois Hollande, so it’s up to him to suggest adding the US to it, Lavrov said answering the question whether President Obama could be included in the format.
- controlled chaos? (@M_Simonyan) - yes - #Lavrov (whether that's what the #US want in the world)
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
Strategically the US does not want any important region in the world to live outside of American influence, Lavrov believes. The Ukrainian crisis targets Russia’s cooperation with Germany and Europe in general and helps solidify NATO as a military alliance, he added.
I'm very comfortable w. John Kerry, as i was comfortable w. Hillary and Condoleeza - #Lavrov on who's best State Secretary to work with
— Irina Galushko (@IrinaGalushkoRT) April 22, 2015
In his ministerial capacity Lavrov has worked with four different US Secretaries of State and was comfortable working with each of them, he said. He remarked that Madeleine Albright, with whom he met as Russia’s envoy to the UN, allowed him to smoke in her US residence, for which he was very grateful.
Behind the scenes at the ministry of foreign affairs during #Lavrov interview pic.twitter.com/6RZgpeXCFU
— Nathalie Novikova (@NovikovaSputnik) April 22, 2015
Lavrov’s daughter and her family live and work in Russia, the minister said. She and her husband plan that their children and future children will live in Russia when they’re adults, he added when commenting on a question as to whether the Russian elite prefer to live abroad.
Russia sees no threat coming from China and views it as a strategic partner in the future, Lavrov said. Russia and China both have strong points and can benefit from cooperation. He rejected the notion that Moscow would be a subordinate partner in Sino-Russian relations due to China’s superior economic strength.
Moscow has no partisan preferences during the upcoming US presidential election. Past experience shows that both Democrats and Republicans can deal with Russia as long as they act in a pragmatic way and don’t try to dictate their will, he said.
#ISIS is our main enemy today - #Lavrovhttp://t.co/Igr6JpZv6Mpic.twitter.com/JekdJ0apNZ
— RT (@RT_com) April 22, 2015
In one fell swoop, NATO severed almost entire mechanism of cooperation with Russia, which was quite efficient, Lavrov said. Instead it’s building up forces in Europe and has forgotten Obama’s promise to scale down the planned antiballistic missile system in Europe if progress in Iranian nuclear negotiations is made.
The US supported the Saudi bombing campaign against Yemeni rebels, but the effort benefited Al-Qaeda's offshoot AQAP, which gained ground from the Houthis, Lavrov said. This is another example of how Washington’s policies differ depending on who the actors are, and lead to harm.
The fight against terrorism is in Russia’s interest, so distancing itself from America’s fight against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in the Middle East in the hope that the US would exhaust itself would not be a good solution, he stressed.
Americans refuse to recognize that the rise of the terrorist organization Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is a result of a failure of American foreign policy in the region, Lavrov said. Rather they consider it yet another brand of Al-Qaeda.
If Hillary Clinton is elected to be president of the United States, Moscow will work with her in a pragmatic way despite her comparison of President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, Lavrov said.
Moscow wants to see Ukraine as a unified country that respects the diversity of cultures of its people and keeps a neutral military stance, Lavrov said, answering a question on Moscow's relations with Kiev.
#LAVROV LIVE: #Ukraine must remain united, but it has to de-centralize to survive http://t.co/Igr6JpZv6Mpic.twitter.com/kNqnTSo65u
— RT (@RT_com) April 22, 2015