The minister pointed out that many prominent politicians of our time recognized the need to unite the potentials of all European states.
According to him, after the end of the Cold War, these plans had every chance of successful implementation.
“But, unfortunately, it remained well-intentioned. The choice was made in favor of "natocentricity" and the "master-slave" logic, he lamented.
He called the expansion of NATO and the crisis in PACE links one chain.
“The illegitimate bombardment of Yugoslavia, its dismemberment and unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence, for the first time after World War II changed the state borders on the continent, support for the armed coup in Kiev, reckless expansion of NATO, deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe, the European Union’s refusal to adopt the decision already agreed by Moscow and Brussels on the mutual abolition of the visa regime, discrimination of Russian deputies in PACE - all these are links in one chain, ”Lavrov said.
Earlier, Russia's permanent representative to the Council of Europe, Ivan Soltanovsky, said that the Russian delegation would return to PACE if the rules of the assembly were brought in line with the CoE Charter.
As emphasized in Spain, it is necessary to restore Russia's full participation in the work of the Council of Europe.