Russian foreign minister: Russia, Belarus protecting themselves from West in Ukraine

January 19, BPN. Russia, together with Belarus, is taking all necessary measures to “protect itself against possible encroachments from Western neighbors,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at his January 19 meeting with Alaksandr Łukašenka in Minsk.

“We can see how NATO is settling down in northern Europe, which used to be a largely neutral territory,” Łukašenka’s press office quoted Lavrov as saying. “Finland, Sweden – all this is very close to our borders.”

Lavrov described the joint Belarusian-Russian foreign ministries’ board meeting as important and timely. It will focus on responses to the West aiming to ensure “total domination, led by the Americans, who are behind everything,” the official said.

This is evident from the positions of NATO and the European Union, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe may follow this line too, he added.

The board meeting will also discuss bilateral cooperation in international organizations to “prevent the privatization of their secretariats” by the West, Lavrov noted.

“It is especially important to coordinate our actions in the so-called human rights field: in the UN Human Rights Council and other mechanisms where the West is clearly trying to politicize discussions that should be based on existing international humanitarian law,” Lavrov said.