MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. People in the West who were "frightened" by Russia should rather fear their own governments, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Portugal’s Radio and Television (RTP) media group.
"The ‘frightened’ residents of the dozens of countries should be afraid, above all, of their own governments," the top diplomat said, noting that any voice of reason was being suppressed in the West. "All of them are repeating non-stop, like a mantra, that they ‘have no right letting Ukraine lose’ and the only way out of the current situation is ‘strategically defeating’ Russia," he explained.
Speaking about a well-known slogan about creating a shared economic and humanitarian space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, Lavrov noted that it also "involved a security space." "That was the time of hopes, dreams that following the end of the Cold War, the West will behave. Those hopes did not come true," he admitted, adding that this was the subject for a lengthy discussion.
The Russian top diplomat also said that he agreed with those who were saying that instead of analyzing the reasons for the current situation, it is "better to act with the future in mind." That said, according to him, it is necessary to proceed from the premise that the West can no longer be trusted by Russia "neither in the security realm, nor in trade and economic ties, nor in financial mechanisms created within the globalization framework which were advertised as beneficial for the entire world." "Then, ‘within one day,’ they morphed into the instruments of blackmail, pressure, racketeering and pure theft. But yes, once there used to be this promise," Lavrov concluded.