MOSCOW, Dec 22 - RIA Novosti. Russia does not want war, but will strictly ensure its security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Well, you know, our philosophy has been well known for a long time, it is contained in the lines of the famous song "Do the Russians want war". We don't want war, President (Russian Federation Vladimir) Putin said this once again: we don't need conflicts, we hope that conflicts don't seem to be a desirable course of action to anyone else either. We will strictly ensure our security by the means we deem necessary," Lavrov said in an interview with RT.
Earlier, State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter that, "contrary to the statements of the Russian Defense Minister (Sergei Shoigu)," Russia, not Ukraine or the United States, is responsible for the escalation of tensions. The Russian Embassy, against the background of US statements that Russia is to blame for the situation around Ukraine, urged "not to shift from a sick head to a healthy one."
Russia has previously published draft agreements with the United States and the NATO agreement, which include, in particular, provisions on mutual security guarantees in Europe, on the non-deployment of medium-range and shorter-range missiles in each other's reach and the rejection of further expansion of NATO to the east, including at the expense of the former republics of the USSR. The documents have already been handed over to Washington and its allies. One of the points of the draft is that NATO should provide guarantees of non-expansion of the alliance into the territory of Ukraine. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated earlier to RIA Novosti, if NATO and the United States do not respond to Russia's demand for security guarantees, this could lead to a new round of confrontation.
