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Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : Alexey Meshkov
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation
TODAY, the situation in the European security sphere is
perhaps at its lowest. The current problems did not
emerge yesterday: They have been accumulating for years.
The prime cause of the serious cooling of the political
climate in Europe was certainly not the Ukraine crisis.
The roots of the contradictions that came to a head dur-
ing the conflict in Ukraine go way back to the 1990s.
In the 1990s, the world was at a crossroads. It could have
followed the path of building a new open model of in-
ternational relations and putting into practice the principles that were laid down in Helsinki in
1975. Alas, the West took a different path. The opportunistic trend towards the consolidation
of the international positions achieved as a result of the Cold War prevailed at the time.
This "new bloc to bloc" approach, to all intents and purposes, predetermined the fate of all the
efforts aimed at establishing effective European platforms for discussions and decision-making
on key European problems.
The first serious wake-up call was the 1999 crisis around Kosovo, when NATO countries grossly
violated the key provisions of international law, the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, the
NATO-Russia Founding Act, and the norms of humanitarian law.
It must be absolutely clear that we will not discuss any conditions on the lifting of sanctions.
The first step towards lifting them should be taken by those who introduced them.
Brussels' refusal to take into account the specificities, interests and concerns of other states, in-
cluding on vital issues, came through most graphically in drafting a Ukraine-EU association
agreement.
The Ukrainian crisis has served as a kind of touchstone that revealed the real essence of the
Western attitude towards Russia.
The so-called sanctions by the United States and the EU are not only unlawful, but are essentially
counterproductive, since they in principle cannot force Russia to change its position either on
Ukraine or on any other issue.
It is really amazing that the "civilized" Europe of the 21st century, which promotes democratic
principles throughout the world - human rights, freedom of expression and the rule of law, is
ready to "forget" about its own values for the sake of its geopolitical appetite, denying funda-
mental rights to the civilian population of the Donets Basin and refusing to accept the genuinely
free choice of the Crimean people in favor of their reunification with Russia.
Russia itself is not ready to return to a type of relations where its partners "are giving it the
finger behind its back." It is high time for everyone to realize this. Only equal and mutually ben-
eficial cooperation can guarantee the building of a truly united, secure and thriving Europe.
Russia and Europe: What Next?