MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin praised the offensive stance of Russian diplomacy, noting with irony that he even has to remind Sergei Lavrov that he is the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, not the Defense Ministry.
"A while ago, Russian diplomacy was criticized for its muffled position on protection of our national interests on the international platform or at all international platforms," he said at a meeting with members of the United Russia party on Sunday.
"Today the situation is completely different. It will not be a big secret that our diplomatic department takes a very active, offensive position. Sometimes I even have to remind Sergey Viktorovich [Lavrov] that he is not the Minister of Defense, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs," Putin said.
According to him, some time ago, the Russian diplomacy was willing to make any compromises, regardless of their own interests, just to look good in the eyes of their partners, but now the situation has changed dramatically:
"Today, the huge enormous professional potential of our diplomatic service fulfils itself and it is working very pragmatically in the national interests of the country. It is not about only talking in well-arranged beautiful interiors anymore. There is a real struggle for the national interests of those states that participate in these discussions," the Russian leader stressed.
The President also touched upon the topic of interaction with other countries on environmental issues.
"Our partners in Europe are now actively promoting the newly posed issue of environmental protection, [reduction] of emissions. They are actually trying to come up with an environmental tax, which clearly contradicts the principles of the World Trade Organization," the Russian leader said.