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Russian FM: short-sighted logic of winners in Cold War prevails in Washington

According to the minister, Moscow has followed the direction of implementing a principle of equal and indispensable security in the Euro-Atlantic

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The short-sighted logic of winners in the Cold War prevails in Washington and NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday at the 4th Moscow Conference on International Security.

"Unfortunately, after the United Nations Organization was founded, possibilities for global management on the basis of true partnership were undermined by a tough bipolar confrontation," Lavrov said. "A quarter of a century ago, it seemed that after the Cold War ended, a prospect opened for the first time in history for switching to a broader cooperation and constructive development," the foreign minister said.

"Russia actively and consistently followed this direction, called for serious work aimed at implementing a principle of equal and indispensable security in the Euro-Atlantic, forming a common economic and humanitarian space from Lisbon to Vladivostok," he added.

"[They] often refused to listen to us, let alone hear us. As a result, the short-sighted logic of winners in the Cold War started to prevail in Washington, and then in NATO," Lavrov said.

"Our partners were in euphoria from false assumptions that the Western world has forever taken the global political and financial Olympus," the foreign minister said. "And it was despite facts, despite obvious processes of dispersal of global forces and influence," he added.

"As a result, today we approached the landmark were we once again, just like after World War II, have to make a fateful choice - between cooperation and conflicts," Lavrov said. "Russia is guided by a realistic pragmatic approach. We are far from deliberate escalation of alarmist sentiments," he added.