Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that his country will continue to defend the principles of sovereignty and equality of States and of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations.
Speaking in person at an extended meeting of the college of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the president stressed that as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Russia will continue to protect the fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
He stressed that another of his foreign policy priorities is to promote the key role of that body in solving international problems, the Kremlin website reported.
“In line with this principled approach, it follows our proposal to hold a summit of the permanent members of the Security Council (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France), who have a special responsibility to maintain peace and stability. international ”, he commented.
The initiative was previously presented by Putin in January 2020 and in April this year, in his annual message to parliament, he expressed his hope that it can be carried out as soon as epidemiological conditions allow.
In this Thursday’s meeting with senior officials of the Foreign Ministry, the head of state urged Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to obtain serious and long-lasting guarantees from the West in order to consolidate the security of the nation.
He pointed out that the latest warnings from Moscow caused “some tension” in those countries and called for this situation to last as long as possible “so that it does not come to mind to organize a conflict on our borders that we do not need.”
Putin stressed that Russia cannot be in suspense thinking “what could happen there tomorrow” and, in his opinion, despite being an unreliable partner that easily rejects any agreement, it is necessary to continue working with the West.
The president accused Western countries of intensifying tensions in the Donbass by sending weapons to Ukraine and carrying out “provocative” maneuvers in the Black Sea and in other regions near the borders with Russia.
For the head of the Kremlin, the crisis in Eastern Ukraine is far from resolved and he blamed Kiev for the situation created from its failure to comply with the Minsk agreements and the consultations in the Normandy format.
He denounced that Germany and France, parties of that format together with Russia and Ukraine, are allowing the Kiev government to destroy the Minsk agreements for a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Donbass, “something that, unfortunately, leads to negotiations to a dead end”.
However, Putin defended the intention to continue working in the Normandy format because, he reflected, there are no other mechanisms that contribute to the resolution of the problems in that region of Ukraine or alternative to the Minsk agreements.
