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EU restrictions prevent Lavrov from participating in Conference on Disarmament — diplomat

Sergey Ryabkov noted that such actions by the West "reflect the fear that the true reasons behind the rapid decline of the global security architecture will be revealed"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov Alexander Shcherbak/TASS
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov was unable to participate in the Geneva Conference on Disarmament because of the illegitimate restrictions imposed by the EU, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, addressing the event on Thursday.

"First of all, allow me to pass on the greetings of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who hoped to take part in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in person. However, this proved impossible because of the illegitimate unilateral restrictions imposed by the EU," Ryabkov pointed out.

According to him, Moscow sees this as "an attempt to avoid frank dialogue aimed at contributing to ensuring long-term global security and stability, particularly getting rid of threats related to weapons of mass destruction."

The Russian deputy foreign minister noted that such actions by the West "reflect the fear that the true reasons behind the rapid decline of the global security architecture will be revealed." "However, the truth will eventually come out, no matter how hard they try to hide it," Ryabkov stressed.