Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov named Zbigniew Brzezinski’s anti-Russia doctrine as central to the crisis the world faces today, and called for a totally different approach to international relations, when he spoke on March 19 with the international finalists of Russia’s annual management competition.
The Ukraine conflict is not about Ukraine, but “the end-result of a policy that the West has carried out since the early 1990s,” when Russia made clear it would not be “docile,” and insists on having a say in world affairs and developing independently, Lavrov stated. “The West did not want equal cooperation and, as we can now see, has kept true to the `will and testament’ of Zbigniew Brzezinski who said that Ukraine should not be allowed to side with Russia. With Ukraine, Russia is a great power, while without Ukraine, it is a regional player. We understand that this is a mere exaggeration. But it nevertheless fits the philosophy and the mentality of Western leaders. No effort was spared to turn Ukraine into an instrument to contain Russia. Into an `anti-Russia,’ as President Putin said….”
But to a participant’s suggestion that Russia should “play the same game” as other countries in order to create an Eurasian area of peace, justice and security guaranteed by Russia’s nuclear arsenal, Lavrov rejected any Brzezinski-like approach to world peace:
“I wouldn’t call it a game in the sense implied by Zbigniew Brzezinski’s terms `Great Game’ and `grand chessboard.’ We proceed from the premise that our friends are people, states, and political parties which are our equals. Unlike the Western organizations, where there is little democracy….
“What we want is an equitable world, free from war, aggressive projects or attempts to pitch one country against another. Equitable is also the way we see Russia’s place in the world….
“What we want is to discuss how to live on this planet in the future. Too many problems have been piling up, and the existing institutions have been unable to resolve them. This is the gist of the initiative President of Russia Vladimir Putin put forward two years ago to convene a summit of UN Security Council permanent members.”
Lavrov specified that Russia is not proposing that the P5 dictate some new Yalta upon the world, but rather for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to assume their primary responsibility under the the UN Charter to maintain international peace.
“When we express the need for more democracy in international relations, this does not mean canceling the UN Charter. It means stopping violations of the UN Charter. The sovereign equality of states and the requirement to respect territorial integrity and the right of nations to self-determination – it is all in the Charter. Had all its provisions been respected, this would have ensured peace and cooperation in good faith among all countries. However, the West manipulates them for its own benefit.” (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1805180/)
