Russia to seek security cooperation with Europe post-Ukraine operation: Envoy

KALININGRAD, June 27. /TASS/. Russia will need to devise frameworks for security cooperation with Europe after the goals of the special military operation are achieved, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador-at-Large Alexander Trofimov said in an interview with TASS.

The diplomat drew attention to an article by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov titled "Ukraine, Europe, and Global Security": "It was the West that provoked the crisis in Ukraine, around Ukraine, and on our western borders. It escalated into a hot phase, and we are currently dealing with it, our country is in a state of emergency response, so to speak, employing military and military-technical means. The goals of the special military operation will, of course, be achieved. And at the subsequent stage, we will need to devise frameworks for cooperation with European countries in the area of security and consider how they fit into the broader Eurasian context, into our Eurasian architecture," he said on the sidelines of an expert dialogue of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

"The interest shown by, <...> for example, Hungary and Serbia will help," Trofimov said. "Let me recall that these countries participated in the Minsk conferences on Eurasian security. And the interest clearly extends beyond these countries. So, the future will tell," he added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously announced that Lavrov’s article "Ukraine, Europe, and Global Security" was originally prepared for publication in the European edition of Politico, but editors declined to publish it at the last minute.