THE UNITED NATIONS, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The Ukrainian conflict was caused by the European security system crisis, not vice versa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

“The crisis of European security and of its entire system was not caused by Ukraine. On the contrary, the crisis in Ukraine reflected contradictions in the Euro-Atlantic region,” the minister said. “There was no such thing as indivisible security as NATO continued to enlarge. As a result, all promises of indivisible security remained just on paper,” he said.

Russia will do what it can to ensure that the dialogue between Kiev and the south-eastern regions of Ukraine continues, the foreign minister noted. “They (Kiev and militias) are coordinating further steps within the framework of the Minsk process. And we are doing everything we can to make it bear fruit,” he said.

There is no lack of communication between Ukraine and Russia, and Moscow did not announce measures to undermine the Ukrainian economy, Lavrov said. Russian minister says Ukraine returned to initial position by putting off Associaton Agreement with the EU until 2015, but after losing thousands of lives.

The parties to the Ukrainian conflict must be influenced in a constructive manner, Lavrov said. “In our contacts with American and European colleagues, we constantly draw their attention to the fact that the Ukrainian sides must be influenced in a constructive manner, not incited to actions that would undermine the peace process,” he said at a news conference.

US President Barack Obama’s speech does not reflect the perception of Russia by the international community, he stressed.

Situation in Syria

Moscow calls for setting up a Contact Group on Syria with participation of all regional counties, including Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference on Friday.

“Less publicity is needed for serious work and also fewer situations when negotiating sides are forced to take extreme positions in order to show themselves to the media in good light,” the minister said. “A Contact Group should be created, with participation of all opposition groups, governmental officials and neighbors.” “All neighbors should take part, including Iran,” Lavrov said.

Force to suppress terrorist threat can only be used with the consent of the country where such operation is carried out, Lavrov added. There are no easy “solutions” for Syria, Assad is not the only problem, the Russian foreign minister said. Nothing good awaits Syria after President Bashar Assad leaves his post, Lavrov stressed. 

Russia has many allies that think along the same lines and support system approaches to the UN work and to discussing causes of a number of situations, he noted.

Russian relations with US and NATO

Russia did not aggravate relations with the US either in the Magnitsky or Snowden situation, but did its best to keep the channels of communication, Lavrov said. Russia is ready for honest and equitable work with the United States and others, he added.

NATO’s enlargement is a mistake, a provocation to some extent and a breach of obligations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

“As far as NATO’s enlargement is concerned, it’s a mistake, a provocation to a certain degree and, to some extent, irresponsible policy which undermines the obligations to build a single security system in Europe,” Lavrov said.