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Russian top diplomat calls on West to respect Russia’s red lines in foreign policy

Russia has the right to protect the interests of its compatriots when they are persecuted in other countries and when their rights are violated, stressed Sergey Lavrov

MOSCOW, January 21. /TASS/. Russia has its red lines in its foreign policy and the West must respect them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Kommersant daily posted on its website on Sunday.

"If we think that we cannot have any interests in the region, in the Euro-Atlantic region, then, yes, Russia’s border is a red line," he said. "But as a matter of fact, we have legitimate interests, there are Russians who found themselves outside Russia overnight when the former Soviet Union collapsed. We have cultural, historical, close personal and family ties with our neighbors."

Russia, in his words, has the right to protect the interests of its compatriots when they are persecuted in other countries and when their rights are violated, as it happened in Ukraine.

He said that the August 2008 developments when Georgia intruded South Ossetia and attacked Russian peacekeepers could be seen as such red line.

"Russia has it interests and people should bear it in mind. Russia has red lines. I think serious politicians in Europe understand that these red lines must be respected as they used to be respected during the cold war," he stressed.