Sergey Lavrov: “The existing European security system has proved ineffective”

Sergey Lavrov in Erevan.
Photo: MFA

The existing European security system has proved ineffective, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, TASS quotes.

"European security concerns everyone and we share the principled assessment that the existing European security system has for years repeatedly proven its ineffectiveness," he pointed out at a press conference following talks with top Armenian diplomat Ararat Mirzoyan.

The Russian Foreign Minister noted that "Euro-Atlantic institutions were actually the backbone of the current security structures." In this regard, he pointed to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was meant to be "an inclusive structure" but in fact, "if we talk about the institution that decided to do all it could to preserve its dominant positions despite the creation of the OSCE, refusing to pass on certain functions of determining and implementing the relevant principles within the OSCE, keeping those to itself – this is, without a doubt, the North Atlantic Alliance."

"Our Euro-Atlantic colleagues have repeatedly demonstrated that they want to tell everyone what to do and they don’t need the likes of the OSCE," the top Russian diplomat stressed. "It’s just a cover they use to disguise their true intentions," he added.

"We have recently been forced to see the European Union, too, as part of the Euro-Atlantic structure, because after signing an agreement with NATO and delegating many of their security powers to the bloc, it has focused on militarizing the European Union," Lavrov observed.

"This framework of security institutions that are still there has repeatedly failed to pass the strength test," he emphasized. In support of his position, Lavrov recalled the NATO leadership’s refusal to make the political obligations regarding indivisible security set out at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul legally binding. According to him, "the faulty security mechanisms" worked neither during the deadly clashes that accompanied the collapse of Yugoslavia nor during the Ukrainian crisis, which was sparked by an unconstitutional coup that brought a neo-Nazi regime to power.

"The Euro-Atlantic institutions have discredited themselves," Lavrov concluded. "I must say that apparently, the United States is also getting frustrated with them. At least, statements by the Donald Trump administration make it clear that Europe needs to take more responsibility for its own actions, while the US has priorities in other parts of the world," he said.

A fair and balanced security system must be built from "the ground up" and cannot be imposed from above by any single structure, Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference after talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, TASS reports.

"We believe that a more equitable security system is one that sprouts organically, and is not imposed on everyone from the top," he said.

"For example, there are a number of integration associations on the Eurasian continent. Memoranda of cooperation have already been signed between many of these structures, and thus a kind of a Large Eurasian Space is being formed naturally from the ground up."

Among the integration associations, Lavrov named, first of all, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, as well as similar sub-regional structures in South Asia and China’s One Belt, One Road project.

"All this lays the groundwork for a future security architecture," Lavrov stated.

"Economic ties that bring nations closer together help foster agreements on how to neutralize common threats and challenges. This is why the architecture of Eurasian security is very, very promising, and the door remains open for everyone to take part in creating it."

Lavrov also noted that for the past two years, Minsk has hosted meetings of high-ranking diplomats and political scientists in an effort to develop a charter on diversity and multipolarity in the 21st century.

"Everyone is invited to the dialogue, including members of the European Union and the European NATO members," he said. "This is an honest approach that involves universal coordination of possible future designs, without twisting anybody's arm."

The "truce-and-see" approach to resolving the conflict with Ukraine won't fly anymore, no matter how much French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer scream that the United States should strengthen anti-Russian sanctions, Sergey Lavrov said at the Russian-Armenian University.

Lavrov said that in Istanbul in 2022 Russia and Ukraine "initialed the settlement principles proposed by the Ukrainian delegation."

"We agreed with them. They were initialed, both by us and the Ukrainians. And then the West forbade signing a treaty based on these very principles. This is why now that we are told: 'Let's have a truce, and then we'll see'. No, guys. We've already been through this, and we don't want to do this anymore, and the Macrons, the Starmers, the von der Leyens and other European figures, who are now hysterically demanding that the United States join anti-Russian actions and increase the number of sanctions, simply give them away," the minister said.

The European Union supports the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in order to further equip the Kiev regime, Sergey Lavrov said. "Back to what the European Union expected from the phone call between [US President Donald] Trump and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. They said ‘We will see’," he said while speaking at the Russian-Armenian University in Yerevan.

"Putin and Trump gave a very positive assessment to their conversation, they agreed that it is necessary to work on preparing specific steps for a long-term, sustainable settlement, including the use of possibilities for ceasefires. But first and foremost, aiming to address the root causes," the Russian diplomat continued.

"But what did the European Union do? They announced that a new, 17th package [of sanctions against Russia] was approved," he noted. "It means that they wanted the crisis’ escalation."

"They said: ‘Yes, we listened and heard nothing about support for a ceasefire without preconditions that would allow us Europeans to continue rearming Ukraine’. This is what they need," according to Lavrov.

"These trends suggest that the current Euro-Atlantic security structure, in particular within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], is becoming obsolete," he said.

"All the more so, because the Western participants in this structure are clearly abusing their power. All the more so, because of existing contrasts in positions assumed by the United States and Europe," Lavrov added.

Moscow is interested in Armenia’s active participation in the work of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Sergey Lavrov said, TASS quotes.

"We are interested in Armenia's active participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization," he pointed out at a press conference following talks with top Armenian diplomat Ararat Mirzoyan.

According to the Russian foreign minister, the parties discussed security cooperation. "We are allies. This year marks 30 years since the creation of a Russian military base in Armenia, which is an important element of ensuring the country’s security interests," Lavrov noted, adding that Russia called for close contact between the two countries’ militaries, law enforcement agencies and security services.

"All these activities should be based on the vast experience gained in previous years," the top Russian diplomat pointed out.

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