Lavrov: West's Aggression Knows No Bounds, EU Mirrors NATO

The West’s policy of aggression knows no bounds, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a meeting of the United Russia Party General Council Commission on International Cooperation and Support for Compatriots Abroad.

According to him, the European Union is now virtually indistinguishable from NATO and has essentially become a replica of that alliance.

TASS has compiled the foreign minister’s key statements.

Western aggression

The West’s aggressive policy mixes direct military intervention with sanctions: "The West knows no limits in the application of these aggressive policies. It resorts to illegal, unprecedented sanctions that undermine all the previous tenets of the Western world, which were based on free trade, market forces, the sanctity of property, and much more. But it is not only economic sanctions that are being imposed; we are also seeing instances of direct military intervention."

"We see this in what is happening around Iran, and we see it in other parts of the Middle East that directly border Eurasia: Palestine, Libya, Syria, Yemen, along with a whole range of other problems that have been created."

All other parts of the continent have, in essence, been declared a zone of responsibility for the North Atlantic Alliance: "NATO is expanding its infrastructure into the Far East under the pretext of containing China."

Western propaganda

Western propaganda is doing everything it can to distort information about the special military operation and Russia’s internal affairs: "This task is particularly relevant given that Western propaganda is doing everything it can to distort the essence of what is happening and to misrepresent our internal issues as well. They are doing everything they can to exploit distorted perceptions of the special military operation for this purpose."

It is essential to "explain to the general public what is happening in the world and the steps taken by Russia to protect its legitimate interests and ensure the most favorable external conditions for the country’s development and for improving the well-being of its citizens."

The North Atlantic Alliance has put forward ideas about the "decolonization" of Russia, and such notions still float around in the public sphere.

EU turning into NATO twin

The European Union is now virtually indistinguishable from NATO; it has become a mirror image of that alliance: "The European Union now hardly differs from NATO. From what was once an economic bloc designed to improve the well-being of European citizens, it has turned into a mirror image of the North Atlantic Alliance."

Ideas are already being put forward in the EU that there is no need to rely on NATO: "Given that the Americans are cooling off on their commitments to defend Europe, they seek to create a new military bloc based on the European Union."

Crises in Eurasia

"All major parts" of the Eurasian continent are currently gripped by crisis.

It is necessary to build a dialogue on creating an architecture that will "help eliminate the causes of each of these crises and establish long-term stable relations in every part of the continent," as well as create "the most favorable conditions for the development of all countries."

The Eurasian Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century is finished: "The document is now ready."

Consultations are currently underway to establish a task force to formulate "final proposals and organize cooperation with international partners": "The work will be extensive, and in all of this work, of course, it is not enough to rely solely on the efforts of foreign policy services."