2 yıl önce

Russia: We don't want wars, but can't allow our interests to be ignored

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also says the response from the US to Moscow's security demands in exchange for Ukraine de-escalation was "almost an example of diplomatic propriety", while the NATO response was highly "idealised".

AP

Ukrainian soldiers on the front line are on alert, as tensions have soared in recent weeks with the buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops near the border.

Russia has said it doesn't want war but will not allow its interests to be ignored as tensions continue to simmer over Ukraine.

"If it depends on Russia, there will be no war. We do not want wars," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the heads of four Russian radio stations on Friday.

"We will also not allow our interests to be ignored," he added.

Lavrov's remarks come after the United States and NATO responded to security demands put forward by Russia in exchange for a de-escalation of tensions over Ukraine.

The demands include a ban on Ukraine joining NATO and on new military bases in former Soviet countries.

Russia said on Thursday that its views were not addressed in the response it received but did not rule out further talks.

And on Friday, Lavrov said the US response contained "grains of rationality" on secondary issues.

He added that the response from the US was "almost an example of diplomatic propriety", while the NATO response was highly "idealised".

"I was a little ashamed for the people who wrote these texts," Lavrov said.

'Gun on the table'

Lavrov said the introduction of further Western sanctions, such as personal measures against President Vladimir Putin and cutting Russia from the SWIFT payment system, would be the "equivalent of severing ties" with Russia.

"I don't think this is anyone's interest," he said.

The West has accused Russia of massing 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and has threatened unprecedented sanctions if Moscow invades.

In an online briefing from Moscow, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan described the buildup of troops as "extraordinary" and said it could not be explained as an ordinary military exercise.

"It's the equivalent of if you and I were having a discussion or a negotiation. If I put a gun on the table and say that I come in peace, that's threatening," Sullivan told reporters later on Friday. "And that's what we see now."

"We hope that the Russian government is true to its word, and does not plan to, and will not, further invade Ukraine. But the facts suggest that it has the present ability to do that," he said.

Sullivan said Washington was now waiting for Russia's response to the written documents by the US and NATO sketching a diplomatic path out of the Ukraine crisis, and urged Russia to withdraw troops from near Ukraine's borders.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies