Also, this situation arose due to the complete disregard of Russia's interests, the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation added
MOSCOW, November 27. /tass/. Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov is confident that NATO's "expansion itch and stubbornness" have led to the current conflict in Ukraine.
"The result of NATO's stubbornness, complete disregard for Russia's interests, was the situation around Ukraine," the Kremlin representative said at the Primakov Readings scientific and expert forum. He shared details of the diplomatic work of the Russian Federation, the purpose of which was to prevent the expansion of NATO, but to ensure security in Europe.
Ushakov told about the first meeting held by Yevgeny Primakov in 1996 with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "on Saturday, literally three or four days after coming to Smolenskaya Square." "This meeting was devoted to our further line in relation to NATO. At that time, I headed the Department of Pan-European Cooperation, which oversaw relations with the North Atlantic bloc, the main topic of the meeting was the search for ways to counter the expansion trend," said the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation. "Then, I admit, the idea of creating a new European security system in which NATO, along with other international European organizations, would come under the common umbrella of the OSCE was still spinning in our heads," Ushakov said. According to him, "in this case, certain actions of NATO, especially infringing on the principle of indivisibility of security, could not be carried out without a consensus decision of all countries of the European continent." "The United States and NATO members, as you know, did not accept such fair, honest rules for ensuring security in Europe, did not agree to them, however, we made such a call, a call with the personal participation of Primakov, but, as they say, it did not work out," the Kremlin representative stated.
"Our Minister (Primakov - approx. TASS) there were other ideas going in the direction of intensifying work with NATO members, with the Brussels headquarters, again aiming to bring down their expansion itch from NATO, but unfortunately they did not lead to anything positive, and now we have what we have," he concluded Ushakov.
Primakov's work and forecasts
"Comparing the current situation in the world with the assessments and judgments expressed by Academician Primakov at the time, one comes to the conclusion that he was a genuine visionary, able to look at the world panoramically, foresee the general trends of future development, many of its most important scenarios, which are being implemented right now," Ushakov believes. He recalled that "in the second half of the 1990s, when the United States was at the zenith of its global power, Primakov not only predicted the onset of a multipolar world order, but also played an important role in accelerating this process." According to Ushakov, Primakov "understood that the transition to multipolarity would not be easy, that the United States and its allies would do everything to preserve the outgoing hegemony, that the rearguard battles of the West would be fierce and even bloody, which is now manifested in the form of a hybrid war unleashed by the United States and Western Europeans against Russia during the Ukrainian conflict."
Ushakov believes that Primakov, having become Foreign Minister in January 1996, "laid the foundations of many key areas of Russia's foreign policy - a foreign policy that the country was able to implement comprehensively only thanks to the course taken already in the zero years by Russian President Vladimir Putin." "This course completely lacks elements of vassalage, at the head of this course is ensuring the national interests of your country, self-esteem, understanding of the radical changes taking place in the world arena," the Kremlin representative said.
Ushakov also recalled the famous Primakov U-turn over the Atlantic, made in the spring of 1999." "It was a bold step, a kind of indicator that when the United States undertakes illegal actions that violate the UN Charter principles, it is possible and necessary to disagree," the assistant to the head of state is sure. He also noted that "at the very beginning of his ministerial career, Primakov was extremely worried about the process of NATO's expansion to the East that intensified at that time."
