Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “interested” in India and China having friendly relations and was “trying to help” them iron out the differences.
Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, March 3

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “interested” in India and China having friendly relations and was “trying to help” them iron out the differences.

Reliable energy partners

Our energy policy will be more towards reliable and credible partners like India and China. We will henceforth not rely on any partners in the West. Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

He went on to defend his country’s actions in Ukraine, saying the West had propped up Ukraine and was not keeping its commitment on not expanding the US-led NATO. Lavrov was speaking at the ongoing Raisina Dialogue organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Ministry of External Affairs here on Thursday.

Replying to a question on the deepening Russia-China relations, he said Moscow had excellent relations with both China and India. “With India, a joint official document describes our bilateral relations as a specially privileged strategic partnership”.

“We are interested that these two great nations (India and China) be friends and we are trying to be helpful,” he said, adding that “we don’t play one country against the other unlike some other nations”. On Russian energy supplies, he said: “We will henceforth not rely on any partners in the West. Every attempt is being made by the US to reduce Europe to be its understudy and ruin the economic linkages between Europe and Russia.

“Our energy policy will be more towards reliable and credible partners like India and China.”

On the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Lavrov said: “NATO kept on expanding and the West kept on arming Ukraine to go to war against Russia.

“Over the past two decades, we have been concerned about the western policy towards Russia. NATO violated all agreements. There was a commitment with (Mikhail) Gorbachev that NATO would not be expanded.”

On being asked how long the war will continue, Lavrov countered: “Have you asked the US and NATO whether they were certain of what they were doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? If the US declares any place a threat, you don’t ask them questions.”

He questioned the G20 (formed in 1999), asking “has it ever, in the past, reflected upon actions (carried out by US-led allies) in Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan”.

“Everyone is asking when Russia is ready to negotiate. When is someone going to ask Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate?” he asked. “Zelenskyy in September last year signed a decree to make it a criminal offence to negotiate with Russia as long as (Vladimir) Putin was President,” Lavrov said.