MOSCOW, March 28. /TASS/. Russia has reason to believe that NATO has heard Moscow's security concerns, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Serbian media on Monday.
"When we recalled those promises [about not expanding NATO to the east], at first we were told that there were no such promises, when we presented the facts, we were told that it was a verbal promise, the task was to reassure us. And when things have calmed down, they decided to move on," he said, "What kind of defensive alliance is this if it defines its own defense boundaries? We want NATO to return to sanity. And we have every reason to believe that our most serious concerns, which are directly related to our fundamental legitimate interests, are being heard and understood."
Lavrov also expressed hope that the West would urge Kiev to adopt a constructive position. "I still see that there is a chance for an agreement [between Russia and Ukraine], because there is an understanding of our Western partners' gross mistakes of many years, it is present, although for understandable reasons they will hardly say it out loud," the minister noted.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the appeal of the leaders of the republics of Donbass, decided to conduct a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories.