Lavrov nodded his head in response to the journalist's question, "That is, there will be no invasion?"
Moscow. February 15th. INTERFAX - Russia will do on its territory what it considers necessary to ensure its own security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"Speculation about the fact that the Russian-Belarusian exercises were started in order to attack Ukraine from the north, to seize Kiev - all these scenarios are completely paranoid there, have been published many times, and by reputable media," he said at a press conference in Moscow with his Polish counterpart, OSCE Chairman-in-office Sbigniew Rau.
Commenting on the West's call to withdraw troops from the border with Ukraine and stop the exercises, Lavrov stressed that "Russia has planned and is fulfilling its plans."
"We will do what we need to do on our territory, what we consider necessary for our security, and we reject the attempt of our Western colleagues to interpret the OSCE principles and obligations on the indivisibility of security in such a way that they supposedly know better how to ensure Russia's security," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
According to Lavrov, when "it's time to partially complete these exercises, they (the troops - IF) return to their permanent bases."
As the Russian minister said, it remains to be heard the statements of the West, which consist in the fact that Russia was scared and fulfilled all the requirements, because it was pressed and "Biden tsked."
"This is air trading, and our colleagues have succeeded in this very, very much. We would like to learn such tricks that they throw out," the Russian Foreign Minister added.
