Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the State Duma on Feb. 14 on the country’s foreign policy priorities. “Our unconditional priority is about the further expansion of our multilateral partnership with our closest neighbors in Eurasia.” He added that “the hostile policy of the collective West not only poses threats, but also paves the way for extra opportunities regarding our activities in various geographical directions, based on the importance of strengthening multifaceted ties with the CIS [the Commonwealth of Independent States], as well as with the global South and East.… It all takes place despite the continuing and, sometimes, extremely excessive pressure exerted by the United States and the European Union on our partners,” Lavrov noted.
Lavrov also told the legislators that the U.S. policy worldwide is “controlled chaos.” “Creating instability in region after region, the Americans want, so to speak, controlled chaos. However, I actually don’t think they know what they are doing,” Lavrov said—an evaluation which had been emphasized a few days earlier in President Vladimir Putin’s historic interview with Tucker Carlson.
Turning to the Ukraine situation, Lavrov stated, according to TASS that “there has been a shift in Western rhetoric due to Moscow’s battlefield successes, according to the minister, with officials now focusing on preventing a Russian victory rather than ensuring its defeat. Nonetheless, their core policy of trying to damage Russia remains the same, Lavrov said, meaning the conflict is unlikely to be resolved diplomatically.” Lavrov added: “Considering that those who declared a war on us offer no serious proposals and are unwilling to respect our interests and the reality on the ground, getting an agreement at the negotiating table will certainly be impossible. No such scenario is foreseen,” the diplomat stated.
