“We are always ready to talk, but if the West has closed all the doors, if it announces sanctions, expels our diplomats, any initiative on our part is unthinkable,” the foreign minister said during a meeting with students and professors from the State University of Belarus.

Lavrov said that if Western nations come to their senses and make a logical proposal, Moscow will listen to them, but not without first taking into account the hostile actions taken to date.

“We will listen to what they say, but we will not take their word for it. We have already believed them many times and, in general, they have simply deceived us. But, in any case, now we will do everything possible so that we do not depend on the West in the critical sectors of our lives, economy, defense,” Lavrov added.

Lavrov also explained to the attendees that NATO tries to find an external enemy to justify its existence because the meaning of the Alliance was lost after the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.

In this regard, he recalled that a close dialogue began between Russia and the European Union at that time, summits were held twice a year, the Russian Government met annually with the entire European Commission, there were 20 sector dialogues and four common spaces in which practical cooperation developed.

“However, now the Atlantic Alliance seeks to surround Russia, interferes in the affairs of the countries of the region, and far from collaborating, creates insecurity for the entire European continent.”

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