“Restoration will not work”: why Russia announced the impossibility of returning to the previous relations with the West

Relations between Russia and the West in the field of security will not return to the state they were before, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“It is only clear that if and when at some point in time our Western neighbors, and there is no escape from the neighborhood, and former partners suddenly become interested in somehow restoring joint work on European security, then restoration will not work.

Because it would mean a return to something that was before, but there will be no “business”, as usual, ”he said at a press conference on security issues in Europe.

This event took place against the backdrop of a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in the city of Lodz.

Earlier, the Polish Foreign Ministry, which now chairs the organization, refused entry to the country of the Russian delegation headed by Lavrov.

The Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation called this decision unprecedented, provocative and incompatible with the status of the chairman of the organization.

"Trust burned out"

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry during a press conference also said that by creating new formats within the framework of an international organization, the West is eroding the competences of the OSCE.

“Using its arithmetic superiority in this organization, the West has been trying for many years to carry out privatization, or more correctly, a raider takeover of the OSCE, to subjugate this last platform for a regional dialogue.

There was also the Council of Europe, but its West had already crippled it, with no chance of recovery.

Now under the "sight" of the OSCE.

Its powers and competencies are being eroded in every possible way and pulled apart in narrow non-inclusive formats, ”Lavrov emphasized.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

He explained that the EU is creating structures parallel to this organization, for example, the European Political Community, the first meeting of which took place on October 6 in Prague.

“Preparing this event and announcing the initiative to create a European political community, President Macron proudly announced that everyone was invited except Russia and Belarus,” Lavrov recalled.

In addition, the basic principles of the OSCE were devalued by the course towards the dominance of the West and the reckless expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance, the head of Russian diplomacy noted.

“The executive structures of the organization, in fact, turned out to be completely subordinate to the United States and Brussels, which headed for the comprehensive support of the Kyiv regime in its policy of eradicating everything Russian ... Westerners supported the Kyiv regime and in its line on the legislative implantation of the theory and practice of Nazism”, the minister said.

He also commented on the actions of Poland as the chairman of the OSCE and its attempts to isolate Russia from participating in the work of this institution.

“Our Polish neighbors have been diligently digging a “grave” for the OSCE all this year, destroying the remnants of a culture of consensus... I can responsibly say that Poland’s “anti-chairmanship” will take the most unattractive place in the history of the organization.

No one has ever caused such damage to the OSCE, standing at its helm,” Lavrov stressed.

In turn, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau stated that the OSCE remains a necessary and effective organization and will again become an “important complex institution” in the future, although now its capabilities are limited.

“Unfortunately, this seems to be a distant prospect.

Trust burned out.

Therefore, it is so important that all member countries restore trust on a strong foundation, ”TASS quotes him as saying.

The Polish diplomat added that if all participating countries adhere to the values ​​​​of the organization, then "the OSCE will find its place in preserving the future of peace."

At the same time, he accused Russia of allegedly holding the organization "hostage", blocking decision-making.

Rau also said that Poland does not support the work of the OSCE in an emergency regime in the long term, however, according to him, "there will be no return to business as usual."

Lost Foundation

Analysts also believe that the restoration of the status quo in relations between Russia and Europe is not possible.

The head of the European security department of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Danilov, in a conversation with RT, stated that the system laid down at the OSCE summit in 1999, based on the principle of the indivisibility of European security, has been destroyed.

“It is impossible to restore it in the current situation.

Look what is happening: Russia, as a member of the OSCE, does not have the opportunity to be represented at the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the organization, the Russian press is not allowed to attend the OSCE event in Poland,” he explained.

• Flags of OSCE member states

• © OSCE/Mikhail Evstafiev

From his point of view, the OSCE has ceased to be the foundation on which Russia could build relations with Europe and the West.

“This base is shaken by the Ukrainian crisis, tectonic shifts in the European system.

Will we somehow reassemble the foundation from the destroyed blocks?

It is hardly possible.

Now we need serious, not evolutionary, but revolutionary ideas that would make it possible to reunite the European security system.

Otherwise, an era of confrontation awaits us,” Danilov added.

He recalled that Russia has long been trying to establish parity relations with the West in the field of dialogue on strategic stability and security architecture in Europe.

“The result was, if not zero, then minimal.

The doors to Russia were not closed, but there were actually no prospects of achieving anything at the official level.

We waited for changes in administrations, opening of new paths and windows of opportunity.

In a diplomatic context, this policy was sound, but in reality these paths did not open, and the windows of opportunity were very short.

Now we have entered a new stage of relations, when the point of no return has already been passed, ”the political scientist emphasized.

At the same time, the current political class in Europe is not ready for a “reverse” in relations with Russia, Danilov is sure.

“Even if that were the case, the US would still hit the stopcock.

Therefore, I would not talk about any favorable political and diplomatic prospects.

Now Russia has outlined its positions, understanding how high the stakes are in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, which, in fact, does not come down to solving the Ukrainian problem.

This is a major European security crisis with a colossal escalation risk.

This is no longer a cold war, but something more, ”the expert said.

RISS expert Sergei Ermakov, for his part, noted in an interview with RT that relations between Russia and the West are now at their lowest point since the Cold War.

“There are no special prospects for restoring the dialogue now.

Everything will depend on the position of the West.

However, in the concept documents of NATO and the EU, Russia appears as an enemy.

The military construction of the West is focused on countering Moscow.

Under these conditions, it is difficult to imagine any restoration of relations at least to an acceptable level, ”the analyst believes.

Russia stands for predictable and stable relations, he stressed.

“Here everything depends on how the West will further position itself in relation to Moscow.

Washington and Brussels do not want to give any security guarantees that Russia offered in 2021.

The doors of NATO remain open.

This means that the architecture of the new European security in the plans of the West will be built around NATO.

That is, all those controversial points that did not allow the development of the once announced strategic partnership will remain, ”Ermakov argues.

Thus, in his opinion, now there can be no talk of any partnership.

“The main thing is to restore and use the still existing mechanisms of dialogue and communication channels so as not to slide into direct confrontation,” the expert concluded.