According to Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, speaking at the UN session Saturday, the 'existing architecture of security in Europe did not pass the strength test in recent events", that is, during the Georgian crisis. Mr Lavrov thus repeated the words of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who said the same following the Georgian war.
Mr Medvedev said then that in dialoguing with Moscow, its Western partners should take into account that Russia has its 'zone of privileged interests', including, his wording suggested, the former Soviet republics.
One of the key themes of the Moscow-proposed security summit would be the US missile defence installations in Europe.
Meanwhile, the Russian foreign Ministry sharply criticised Prague and Warsaw yesterday for their position on Russian officers' proposed presence in the missile and radar bases the US wants to site in Poland and the Czech Republic. The statement was issued in response to a recent Associated Press report from Prague, according to which Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar and Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Przemysław Grudziński said their countries could agree to Russian inspections at the bases only on a reciprocal basis.
In a special communiqué, the Russian Foreign Ministry expresses surprise that the Poles and Czechs talk to Russia through the press. The statement states categorically that Russian experts' presence at the missile defence bases 'cannot be subject to any negotiations' and that 'no conditions' can be made on the issue. It adds that Moscow wants permanent presence rather than just temporary inspections, which US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates offered Moscow a year ago.
Then the idea, because of the West, started changing and, as the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement reads, 'evolved into degenerate forms'. The most recent development in this evolution are, according to Moscow, Poland and Czech Republic's demands for their officers to be allowed to inspect Russian missile launch sites or military bases in the Kaliningrad enclave. Such demands, the statement says, reflect a 'lack of fundamental logic' and show that Poland and Czech Republic 'do not need' any dialogue with Russia.
Translated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak
Źródło: Gazeta Wyborcza
