Russia claims Europe has ‘completely lost’ its independence, ‘ceded’ all its positions to NATO

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Wednesday claimed that Europe has “completely lost” its independence and “ceded” all its power to NATO.

“Europe has completely lost its independence. Whatever French President Emmanuel Macron may say about ‘strategic autonomy,’ or (EU foreign policy chief) Josep Borrell may declare about the need for Europe to be more active in the Indo-Pacific Region, Europe has ceded all its positions to the North Atlantic Alliance,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Russian TV channel Tsargrad.

Lavrov further said Europeans are clearly “the most aggrieved party” in terms of developments around Ukraine apart from the Ukrainian people itself, claiming that this is due to the “depletion” of the continent’s budget and the stance they are “forced to take” in providing weapons and funds to Ukraine.

In response to a question on “the lack of diplomacy in the modern world,” Lavrov said this began following the 2014 Maidan revolution, during which, he claimed, the West “abandoned diplomacy.”

The February 2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

“The last attempts at diplomacy were the (2014) Minsk agreements, which were coordinated, at the very least,” Lavrov noted, saying Russia made compromises during these negotiations, but that European leaders present during these negotiations admitted they had not planned to implement the decisions made.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the 2014 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

“So, the ‘diplomacy of lies’ was the only kind of diplomacy we had then. I don’t know how the current stage of diplomacy can be defined,” Lavrov said, also saying Moscow is still open to diplomacy if it is “serious diplomacy” that takes into account Russia’s concerns and position.

Lavrov also said the West has attempted to force the Global South to join sanctions against Russia, but that this has been challenged by the intention of these countries to “build their own policy based on national interests, the needs of their own economies and social objectives.”

“The Western policy is failing. Yes, they refer to the results of UN votes on the provocative resolutions that have been drawn up in a devious fashion. In addition to the biggest possible number of generally recognized statements, they include clearly anti-Russia wording between the lines,” he further said, adding: “If they are big on democracy, they should let others make their own decisions.”

He also added that post-Soviet countries find themselves in the crossfire due to this, and that the West “methodically and cynically” pressures these states to refrain from taking steps contrary to Western interests.

He further denied claims that the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was “falling apart,” saying the allegations were being made “only because the CSTO members proceed from consensus and respect nuances that sometimes become substantial, that always arise in the life of this or that country.”​​​​​​​