The core of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Sergei Lavrov called for getting rid of phobias

At the very beginning of February, Russia and the United States will resume negotiations on concluding a new Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed hope that the remaining issues “will be resolved quite quickly” and the new agreement “will contribute to serious changes for the better in the entire disarmament sphere.” As President Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday, the new agreement is “95% ready.”

As for the “core of all the work” of the Russian Foreign Ministry, it will be “the task set by the president - to closely link all foreign policy activities with the needs of the comprehensive modernization of the country and transfer of the economy to an innovative track.” Sergei Lavrov summed up the foreign policy results of 2009 at a press conference on January 22. Speaking about the Iranian nuclear program, around which “tension remains,” he noted that Russia “regretted” Iran’s disagreement “on the formula for the production of fuel for the research reactor in Tehran.” This formula assumed the enrichment of Iranian uranium outside the country, including in Russia. The minister again called for the resumption of negotiations to resolve “all aspects of the Iranian nuclear issue.” Tomorrow, Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council Said Jalili will arrive in Moscow.

The Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of relations with Ukraine and other “our partners in the CIS space.” The minister did not forget Eastern Europe - in particular, Latvia, where he will go on a visit in the spring: “We are neighbors, we have many common interests. The main thing is that they are not clouded by artificially introduced phobias, ideological prejudices, the inertia of the past, the inertia of the Cold War mentality. Moscow was indignant at the fact that the Latvian president, during a visit to Tbilisi in December 2009, presented a high order - the “Cross of Recognition” - to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili: “the man who gave the order to kill Russian peacekeepers, to kill civilians.”

However, the main topic of the minister's press conference was security issues. Mr. Lavrov noted that in 2009 it was possible to “kick off a serious thought process” around the idea of ​​concluding a European Security Treaty put forward by President Dmitry Medvedev. “The meaning of our proposals is simple - to bring the entire “patchwork” architecture of European security to a common denominator,” the minister called the presidential initiative “a test of sincerity for NATO partners.” The Foreign Minister touched upon reports in the Polish press about the planned deployment in Poland of a battery of American Patriot air defense missiles, approximately 100 kilometers from the border with the Kaliningrad region. Calling it “a matter of bilateral military cooperation between two NATO allies,” the minister expressed bewilderment: “Why is it necessary to do something to create the impression that Poland is strengthening itself against Russia. We look forward to receiving clarification."

Petr ISKENDEROV