12.04.2025, Moscow.
NATO should have been dissolved when the USSR collapsed and the Warsaw Pact Organization ceased to exist, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a diplomatic forum in Antalya on April 12.
“Back then, many in the West were talking about focusing on the OSCE, uniting everyone in one organization and giving it a new impetus. However, NATO not only remained, but also proclaimed itself the only organization capable of providing security guarantees,” he added.
Lavrov also recalled that the leadership of the alliance then promised the last president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev and the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin that the military bloc would not expand eastward. According to the minister, many people ask why these agreements have not been put on paper.
“In Russia, since ancient times, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, when trade was particularly flourishing, people agreed on something important without signing any contracts. They simply gave their word of honor and sealed the deal with a handshake, and this was never broken,” the foreign minister explained the naivety of the Russian side.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously repeatedly said that the West has deceived Russia. This concerned the Minsk relations, which were used to pump Ukraine with weapons. The head of state also said that the West “ditched” Russia and the poorest countries during the grain deal. In addition, he called it a deception when Russia complied with the request and withdrew troops from Kiev during negotiations with Ukraine in 2022.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
