MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The Russian authorities will now consider each request for communication from European diplomats based in Moscow on a case-by-case basis, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.
The top Russian diplomat noted that a group of European ambassadors had earlier refused an invitation to meet with him to receive clarifications ahead of Russia’s presidential election. "We invited them ahead of the vote to clarify our vision of relations and tell them that we expected them to refrain from unilateral actions to impede the election campaign or distort it. This was their choice. They are based here but they are unwilling to meet with the foreign minister," he said.
"We informed them that from now on, if they wish to communicate with the Russian authorities at any level - be it an ambassador, an attache or anyone in between - we will consider every request separately to decide whether to agree to such communication," Lavrov pointed out.
He said earlier that he had invited the ambassadors of EU countries to meet with him ahead of the Russian presidential election but they refused to attend two days before the meeting. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS in this regard that the envoys of EU countries based in Moscow had discredited themselves and the Russian public was questioning the need for them to stay in the country.
Lavrov also considers that Russia currently has almost no fields for real cooperation with the West.
"We hardly have any," he said in response to a question. "The Americans have been highlighting one fact in every possible way, saying that it was them that warned [Russia about the threat of a terrorist attack] on March 7. The British embassy also issued a warning in English on March 8. They addressed those warnings to their own citizens in Moscow, recommending they refrain from attending public events," Lavrov pointed out.
"As for communication between intelligence agencies, they don’t usually make it public. FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said in a recent interview that such communication continued and a warning had been received but it had not been precise," the top Russian diplomat added.
As for American diplomacy, Lavrov stressed out that US administration officials have lost diplomatic skills.
"The US has forgotten how to use diplomacy to establish ties, discuss pressing issues in a trust-based manner and find ways to reach compromises," he pointed out. "They [the Americans] have been corrupted by the obedience they see primarily from the Europeans but also from other nations who are ready to bend to the US will, the threat of sanctions, ultimatums and blackmail," Lavrov added.
The top diplomat noted that the US was assisting the Ukrainians in targeting cutting-edge weapons at civilian and infrastructure facilities in Russia, "saying, let them fire at each other, while we will sit down to talk." "This does no credit to the Washington administration officials responsible for foreign policy," he noted.
Lavrov also specified that Russia was expressing its readiness for dialogue with the United States about swapping convicts on the basis of agreements, reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden in Geneva.
"The Americans are saying all the time that there have been an agreement, and Russia is not ‘cooperating.’ These are dirty methods that run counter to agreements reached by the presidents. We are committed and ready to continue the dialogue exactly in the form that was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden," he said.
The minister recalled that the agreement between the Russian and US presidents was reached in Geneva on June 2021.
"It boiled down to creating a channel [of communication] between the special services, and it was agreed that its work will be confidential," Lavrov said.
He underscored that Moscow "has never taken this subject to the public domain."
"We made comments about that only after certain above-mentioned agreements were implemented," the Russian foreign minister added.
After the Russian-US summit in Geneva, Putin told reporters that Moscow and Washington may reach certain compromises regarding Russian citizens jailed in the United States and US citizens, who are serving prison sentences in Russia.
However, Russian Foreign Minister noted that European Union member states bit their tongues when Washington said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new presidential term is a reality.
"When US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Putin’s presidency in Russia is a reality, and they are going to work with this reality, entire Europe went silent," the minister said.
His words came as a response to earlier remarks made by the leaders of France, Germany and other EU nations that they were not going to recognize the outcome of the Russian presidential election.
"When the boss pronounced [his instructions], everyone stood at attention and saluted. Regrettably, there is no such independent [geopolitical] player as Europe," Lavrov added.
At the same time, the top Russian diplomat said that Europe’s actions lack logic and long-term analysis. Political leaders are unwilling to pursue their countries’ national interests and common development goals, focusing on the electoral process instead, he said.
"They are worried about electoral cycles. As elections approach, they feel the urge to say something that the voters will eagerly ‘buy’ later," Lavrov added.
Talking about summit in Kazan Russian Foreign Minister noted that Moscow will invite BRICS+ nations.
"When preparing for the summit set to take place in Kazan this fall, we will invite not only full-fledged BRICS members - there are ten of them now - but also our partners on the BRICS+ platform," he noted.
Lavrov added that "a decision is being developed for the summit to introduce a new ‘partner country’ category." "There are about 30 countries waiting in line," he said.
According to the top Russian diplomat, the group "has indeed become global not only in terms of its agenda and geographical reach, with almost all the main regions represented here, but also in terms of the number of member states." "Today, this is the paradigm of diplomacy’s development," Lavrov pointed out. All these regional and subregional processes fit perfectly into the position, concept and philosophy that BRICS promotes at the global level, with Russia holding the group's chairmanship this year, he concluded.