Lavrov: 'Europe has no independence'

 

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

“To tell the truth, we no longer have any illusions about converging with Europe, being accepted as part of the “common European home,” or creating a “common space” with the EU.

All these declarations made in European capitals have turned out to be a myth and a false-flag operation.

The latest developments have clearly shown that the ramified network of mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment ties between Russia and the EU were not a safety net. The EU did not think twice about sacrificing our energy cooperation, which was a pillar of their prosperity. We have seen that the European elites have no independence and always do whatever they are ordered to do in Washington, even if this results in direct damage to their own citizens. We take this reality into account in our foreign policy planning.”  

Russia spent most of the past thirty years seeking to facilitate cooperation with the European Union, and over seven years trying to reach a negotiated peace in the Donbass and assure Ukraine’s continued bloc neutrality. But in retrospect, the West's irrepressible longing to incorporate Kiev into its own economic and security blocs seem to have made the current crisis inevitable, with ordinary Europeans now being made to pay the economic and security costs of their leaders' shortsightedness.