Moscow will not hide its attitude toward attempts by Western countries to undermine Russia's cooperation with its allies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this on Tuesday.
"If we are really talking about cooperation that is equal, mutually beneficial, transparent, carried out in accordance with international law, no one can have any concerns," he said at a press conference following talks with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu.
"If we are talking about the fact that instead of cooperation on the principles I mentioned, Western countries will try to threaten, blackmail, will force our allies to undermine relations with the Russian Federation to the detriment of their own national interests, then, of course, we will not hide our attitude to such attempts. Our Kazakh friends and other partners in the CSTO, the EEC, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization understand perfectly well what we are talking about," Lavrov added when asked about Moscow's attitude to cooperation between its Eurasian partners and the West.
According to the Russian minister, Moscow advocates that all multilateral structures and countries of the Eurasian continent be part of the broader integration contour process mentioned in Russia's new foreign policy concept.
"At the very least, the doors should be open to all such organizations and all such countries. The process is underway. If we take the Eurasian Economic Union, its relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have already been established. The same relations exist between the SCO and the CIS, between the SCO and ASEAN. So such a network of cross contacts and ties is already forming, and I am convinced that these processes will allow to convert contacts into the achievement of real, practical, material benefits for all participants of these processes," said Lavrov.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: MFA RF
Based on materials TASS