MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Western countries need to realize that Moscow has legitimate security interests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the choice was between a red button and a red line. Nevertheless, a reasonable balance of interests was found back then and today, the most important thing is for countries to realize their interests and recognize the legitimate interests of others, Russia’s legitimate interests," he pointed out.

Grushko also said that in order to do that, the West should abandon double standards and pay attention to developments in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

He did not rule out that Russia might build normal relations with Western countries in the future provided that they adopted a reasonable approach. "I think that once there is a reasonable perception of the situation, it will be possible to establish some rational relations in the future on a more healthy basis rather than on the basis that they tried to impose on us in the past decades," the senior Russian diplomat noted.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. In response, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries announced sanctions on Russian individuals and entities.