Brussels, 14/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - “Russia-EU relations have approached the moment of truth”, said Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov in columns in Kommersant and New Europe, published on 12 February. “Today, Europe is no longer the centre of the world's economy and politics, and it must count on the arrival of other centres of power and influence”, Lavrov said. “Reflecting on the reasons that push some of our Western partners (…) to try indelicately to include [Ukraine] in their geopolitical area leads inevitably to fundamental questions about relations between the European Union and Russia.”
EU trying to create a sphere of influence in Ukraine.
At a press conference with Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 14 February, Lavrov criticised the West for not letting Ukraine choose. “By pressing Ukraine to go to one side, and warning it that it must choose one or the other - to be either with the EU or with Russia - the EU shows that deep down it is trying to create a sphere of influence”, he said. “It is not at all correct, or at all polite, when one speaks of the freedom of choice, to send diplomatic representatives every day”, he stated, at a time when Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle is making his third visit to Kiev in three weeks and when High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton was there last week. “They come to Kiev without being invited and try to persuade the Ukrainian leaders to make the choice promoted by the EU and US”, Lavrov added.
Lavrov therefore states in New Europe that Russia's Western partners have already made the choice for the Ukrainians and are not prepared to wait for the citizens of Ukraine to resolve their constitutional future democratically. In Kommerant, Lavrov believes that “a situation where the democratic process is replaced by 'street democracy', where the opinion of a few thousand protesters who are trying to put pressure on the government is considered as the 'voice of the people', cannot be considered as acceptable”. “Destabilising a nation in the centre of the European continent can hardly serve anyone's interest”, Lavrov stated.
In Lavrov's view, in order “to develop cooperation continuously and purposefully, we should understand whether we want to proceed along the way of attaining ambitious goals of strategic partnership. Otherwise we will go on stumbling at every step because of lack of clear sense of direction”, he stated in New Europe, reiterating that a new level of partnership can only be reached on the basis of equality and mutual respect. “Information wars won't help. What we need is real leadership and political wisdom”, he added. (CG/transl.fl)