Russia never plays one country against another: Foreign Minister Lavrov

Unlike others, Russia never plays one country against another, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. Lavrov further shared his views on the war in Ukraine, Russia's relations with India and China and the role of the Quad during the Raisin Dialogue held in Delhi.

Lavrov said that Russia has warned the West against the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for decades. He accused the West of pushing weapons into Ukraine and preparing it for war against Russia. Asked about other countries suffering because of the war and the need to end the long-running conflict, Lavrov said it wasn't just black and white. According to him, the suffering of other countries was not related to what Russia is doing in Ukraine to defend itself.

Lavrov held the West responsible for the sanctions imposed on Russia. He accused NATO of violating all its commitments along with the supply of weapons to Ukraine. He said Russia is defending its people, who have been denied the use of the Russian language in education and other areas of life.

The minister accused the West of trying to militarize QUAD. He accused the United States of derailing East Asian summits by promoting the ASEAN Plus QUAD idea. On the issue of relations with India and China at the same time, Lavrov said: “We have excellent relations with China and excellent relations with India. Relations with India are characterized by official documents signed by both leaders, especially the privileged strategic partnership. I don't know if any other country has this status on paper officially."

"We never engage in playing one country against another, which some other outside players are trying to do in the context of the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy, using the Quad, not for economic purposes, but to militarize it," he added. Lavrov said this is reflected in ties related to areas such as economy, technology, military cooperation, culture and education, along with people-to-people relations.

Talking about India-China relations, Lavrov said that the more the two countries meet, the better. "We are interested in the two nations being friends and we are trying to be helpful," Lavrov said. “The troika of Russia India China continues to work... we met last year and we will meet again at ministerial level. BRIC is a platform for India and China in our presence to find some more common ground, and we also strongly support India's entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization," Lavrov added.