Lavrov sees Ukraine as western foothold for further penetration of post-Soviet space

MINSK, 19 January (BelTA) – The West has converted Ukraine into a foothold for further penetration of the post-Soviet space, BelTA learned from Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov on 19 January.

Sergey Lavrov said: “Once again we've expressed profound concern about the destructive policy of the United States of America and its satellites in favor of expanding NATO, bringing the alliance's military force, military infrastructure closer to our common borders. It leads to escalation of the military and political tensions and cannot be left without a reaction on our part. We share the opinion that the so-called collective West has in fact converted Ukraine into a foothold for further penetration of the post-Soviet space, a foothold for subversive actions against the Union State of Belarus and Russia, that the West directly encourages Kiev to create imminent threats to vital interests of Russia and Belarus.”

In his words, the reinforcement of the Belarus-Russia military force, which began in Belarus in October 2022, is one of the responses to these steps.

Sergey Lavrov remarked that annual meetings of Belarusian and Russian diplomats represent a very valuable tool for interaction. “The topic of today's discussions was determined by fundamental changes in the world,” the Russian minister of foreign affairs said.

The sides discussed interaction in the course of realization of the program on concerted actions in the area of foreign policy in 2022-2023, cooperation in the area of foreign policy planning, coordination of actions with regard to the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe, joint work within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

“The conversation confirmed the two countries will keep their approaches to the matters, which we discussed and which affect key aspects of world development,” Sergey Lavrov stated.