MOSCOW, September 21. /TASS/. Washington is not interested in independent European states so it is creating local formats even within the EU, which are advantageous for the United States, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty weekly newspaper.
"The US is not interested in independent European states. That’s why today, they [the Americans] are trying to create local platforms, which are advantageous for them, even within the European Union," Patrushev said. He particularly referred to the Three Seas Initiative, which brings together Eastern European countries. "It is described as a constructive integration platform but it's actually about a new anti-Russian union. In fact, it revives the 100-year-old idea of creating a so-called buffer zone along our country's western border," the Russian Security Council secretary stressed.
Patrushev still expects that some European Union countries that have centuries-long diplomatic experience will resume an independent policy. "I'm mostly talking about Germany, France and Italy. We expect that these powers will eventually free themselves from external influence and return to a pragmatic and independent policy that they used to pursue," Patrushev noted. On the whole, in his words, the European Union is only tarnishing its own image by trying to state its ambitions in terms of global politics. According to the security official, a report on relations with Russia, adopted last week, is more proof of that.
"Even before the elections took place in Russia, the European Parliament had said that it could refuse to recognize the outcome of the vote in a continuation of its anti-Russian policy," Patrushev said. However, more and more countries are now beginning to understand that the EU "can hardly be expected to offer anything but lectures about human rights and the promotion of pseudo-liberal values.".