Lavrov castigates West’s efforts to hide behind cloak of secrecy for ‘Russia blame game'

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The West’s frequent attempts to hide behind "secrecy" when circulating anti-Russian rhetoric look ridiculous, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with members of the European Business Association on Tuesday.

"Secrets are a very interesting thing," Russia’s top diplomat said, citing several examples.

Litvinenko case

Russia’s foreign minister cited as an example the tragic death of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London.

"An investigation was carried out," Lavrov said.

"We insisted that it should be open but it was a closed probe conducted with the participation of special services. It is called a public investigation but in actual fact it was a closed inquiry and up to now no one knows what accusations were brought and which facts were laid on the table," Russia’s top diplomat said.

MH17 crash over Ukraine

Russia’s foreign minister also cited as another example the crash of a Malaysian Boeing airliner over Ukraine in 2015.

"A non-transparent investigation," Lavrov noted. "The materials that we have submitted are not being examined and at least are not mentioned," the foreign minister added.

"They wanted to set up a tribunal two years ago and were in a hurry," Lavrov went on to say.

"We said: let us first complete the investigation. However, the investigation has not been concluded up to now and they are prolonging it for another year. There are no facts, there is not a single fact but efforts continue to accuse it [Russia] while in response to the question about why no proof is given, they say: it is a secret," Russia’s top diplomat said.

US elections

"Our US partners answer in the same way to my question about where there is any evidence of our interference in the elections: ‘there is irrefutable proof but it is a secret,’" Lavrov noted.

"The investigation has been dragging on for nine months already in the Senate and under the direction of a special counsel but there is not a single fact. Meanwhile, leaks are simply a daily norm, a norm in America’s political culture. If there had been at least some more or less significant fact, [then] there would have been a leak," the Russian foreign minister said.
"That is why, honestly speaking, these references to secrecy are ludicrous for people who advance such serious accusations against us," Russia’s top diplomat said.