Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Archive)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the EU is attempting to build a security structure against Russia rather than with it.

"If our Western colleagues understand their mistakes and express readiness to return to the discussion of the documents that we proposed in December, I think it will be a positive factor. Although I doubt that they will have the strength and will to do it, but if it happens, then, of course, we will be ready to return to the negotiations," Lavrov said, in a brief on European security issues.

Lavrov quoted NATO's first Secretary-General, Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, who stated that the alliance's basic objective toward Europe is to "keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."

“What is happening now means that NATO is returning to those conceptual priorities that were developed 73 years ago. Nothing has changed: they want to keep the Russians outside of Europe, the Americans have already enslaved all of Europe, and not only the Germans, but the entire European Union. So, the philosophy of dominance and unilateral advantages did not disappear anywhere after the end of the Cold War," he said.

The Foreign Minister further expounded on the status of European intergovernmental organizations, adding that Western policies had crippled the Council of Europe beyond repair, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is likewise plagued by several issues.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he remarked that Sweden, which presided over the OSCE last year, had abandoned a balanced posture, allowing Washington and Brussels to subjugate the institution.

Meanwhile, Poland, which will preside over it in 2022, is "digging a tomb" for the OSCE, destroying any remaining unanimity, he tersely stated.

Lavrov said that the security environment in Europe is fragmenting, and the OSCE is becoming a marginalized body.

Earlier in the day, the 29th OSCE Ministerial Council began its annual summit in Lodz. According to senior Polish diplomat Pawel Jablonski, Warsaw did not allow Lavrov to attend the summit because it believes it is vital to "completely isolate" Russia in the international arena amid the war in Ukraine.