MINSK, October 31. /TASS/. Russia does not close the doors to the countries of the western part of the continent to cooperation within the Greater Eurasian Partnership as long as they respect the principles of equal rights, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the plenary session of the 2nd Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that our vision of the Greater Eurasian Partnership and the Eurasian security architecture implies openness to all countries and associations of our continent without exception," the minister emphasized. "This means that no one is going to close the doors for the countries of the western part of Eurasia, and we will welcome their inclusion in the processes of pan-Eurasian cooperation, of course, solely on the basis of equality and rejection of hostile bloc policies."

According to Lavrov, adherence to these principles is a necessary condition for successful cooperation between countries within this partnership. "This is an essential condition because, for a long time, things were different. For example, all schemes that relied on the concept of Euro-Atlantic security served to conserve the dominant position of the United States and to contain its competitors, including Russia," Lavrov noted. "The main role in this was assigned to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO), which has ultimately subsumed the European Union in gross violation of the Helsinki Final Act and other obligations."

The Greater Eurasian Partnership is an initiative proposed by Putin in his address to the Federal Assembly in 2015. It involves the formation of a broad integration framework on the Eurasian continent. The foundation of the partnership is the promotion of a fair polycentric world order with equal and mutually beneficial economic cooperation.