We are trying to stop a war imposed on us by West: Sergey Lavrov at Raisina Dialogue

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday said Russia isn’t fighting a war, but it is fighting to stop a war imposed against it by the West. In New Delhi for the G20 foreign ministers’ meet in which he took part, Lavrov in a rather fiery session at the Raisina Dialogue session in the afternoon frequently tried to shout down the interviewer, ORF chairman Sunjay Joshi and tried to play the sizeable crowd that had gathered to hear him speak. Faced with questions about the feasibility of launching a hot war against Ukraine, Lavorv, who met US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the G20 meet Thursday – the first time since the launching of the war that the two leaders have met face-to-face – said, “We are trying to stop the war that was launched against us was started by NATO and the West.” Placing Russia firmly as the side that it being wronged even as Russian troops rain down missiles and roll tanks into Ukraine, Lavrov frequently played the victim card. “Yesterday,” he said in reply to Joshi’s question the French ambassador to Israel confirmed that NATO had a commitment not to expand the security alliance. It did in 1999 and again in 2010. It violated even some commitments on paper. We said security is indivisible. NATO said each country is free to choose alliances, but no country can choose to do so at the expense of harming the security of others. NATO violated all its commitments. “We told NATO,” he continued while speaking over the interviewer, “that this is not done. We said let’s turn the politcal commitment into a legal one. But NATO shot our proposal down. No delivery on oil commitment, no delivery on legal commitments, and all of these were accompanied by NATO beefing up Ukraine’s military.” On being asked whether the bombing campaign may change hearts and minds, Lavrov sounded indignant. “Have you ever asked America or NATO what they have done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran? They don’t remember when bombs were dropped in Serbia in 1999,” said Lavrov to loud applause from the audience. What happened when Serbia was bombed? We are defending against a war that is against everything Russian in Ukraine. No one lifted a finger when Russian language was cancelled in Ukraine. Can you imagine English being cancelled in Ireland?” Lavrov put the onus of ending the war on Ukraine. “Biden (US president Joe Biden), Blinken, Borrell (High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, have repeatedly said that Russia must be defeated and defeated on the battlefield. It is existential for the West… If it is existential for them, then it is existential for us. “The West is continuously saying there won’t be negotiations unless Ukraine wins. Zelenskyy has categorically ruled it out. “Everyone’s asking when Russia is ready to negotiate. Nobody asks Zelenskyy when he’s going to negotiate. Last year, he signed a document making it a criminal offence to negotiate with Russia as long as (president Vladimir) Putin is present. Can you ask him what he’s doing? Lavrov called G20’s focus on Ukraine war “a shame”. “Entire G20 was only about Ukraine and what to do. I asked Indian friends, whether G20 ever reflected in its document, proceedings in Iraq. G20 was formed for finance and micro-economic policies. When Russia, after many years, has started to defend itself, then it is the only thing being discussed. This is a shame. “The West is promoting politics of diktat and blackmail. Putin explained in great details why we are doing this. West condemned. Treat others as adults. Don’t try to dictate their actions.” Lavrov was cautious when asked about Russia’s growing closeness with China and how it may affect India-Russia relations. “We never make friends against someone. We have excellent relations with both India and China. This reflects the reality. We never engage with any country against any other country. This is being done by some other players in guise of Indo-Pacific policy. using Quad, not for economical purpose but trying to militarise it,” Lavrov said. “The idea promoted by our American friends of ASEAN plus Quad is openly aimed at ruining East Asia Summits. In other words, it means East Asia Summits minus China and Russia,” said the Russian foreign minister. Another interesting set of comments came regarding Russia’s changing energy interests. It seemed Lavrov was trying to drive a wedge between US and its Atlantic partners. “We would not rely on any partners in the West. We will not allow anyone to blow up partners again. Seymour Hersh published his investigations. Germany was humiliated. Every action is being done by US to reduce Europe, to undercut Europe, to ruin Russia-Europe ties. So be it. If what’s going on is existential, then everything fits into place. 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