On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the eighth meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys at the Russian Foreign Ministry. In his speech, Putin stressed that NATO' committed a grave mistake by deciding to expand eastward, instead of building a new security architecture with Russia, "as a full-fledged partner, "to provide "equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific." He added that NATO not only seeks to find in "Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, "but is also taking "genuinely confrontational steps." However, as concerns Europe, Putin stressed that Russia had not abandoned the idea of establishing an economic and humanitarian common space from the "Atlantic to the Pacific "together with the EU. This common space could guarantee "the entire Eurasian continent" long-term sustainable development, an allusion to Putin's pet Eurasian integration project and the more ambitious idea of creating an economic and political space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
As for the United States, Putin said that Russia sought a partnership based "on equality and mutual consideration of interests."
Below are excerpts from Putin's speech:
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys. (Source: Kremlin.ru, June 30, 2016)
'NATO...Is Taking Genuinely Confrontational Steps'
"...It is unacceptable to prolong the Ukrainian crisis and unacceptable to blame others for this, particularly Russia. This only worsens the already unhealthy situation on the European continent and aggravates the consequences of the great mistake that was NATO's decision to expand eastwards rather than to start building, with Russia as a full-fledged partner, a new architecture for equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
"Today, NATO seems to be making a show of its anti-Russian stance. NATO not only seeks to find in Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, but is also taking genuinely confrontational steps. The mythical Iranian nuclear threat has gone now. As I said publicly on many occasions, it was the Iranian nuclear threat that was used to justify the need for a missile defense system, but we see that work to build this system's infrastructure in Eastern Europe continues. Back when these plans were taking shape, we said that this was a deception, a fetish, a mere pretext. And this is exactly what it was. The number of military exercises has increased dramatically, including in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. We are constantly accused of military activity, but where? Only on our own soil. We are supposed to accept as normal the military build-up on our borders. Rapid reaction forces are being deployed in Poland and the Baltic countries, and there is a build-up in offensive weapons. All of this seeks to undermine the military parity achieved over a period of decades.
"Let me say that we keep constant watch over all that is happening. We know what constitutes an adequate response in this situation and we most certainly will respond if needed in the future. However, we are not going to let ourselves get intoxicated by these military passions. It seems that others are trying to nudge us this way, provoke us into a costly and futile arms race so that we divert resources and effort from our great socioeconomic development tasks at home. We will not do this, but we will always ensure our reliable defense and will guarantee the security of our country and its citizens
'Russia Has Not Abandoned The Idea Of Establishing A Common...Space From The Atlantic To The Pacific Together With The European Union'
"What I would like to stress in this respect is that 'Brexit' is the choice Britain's people have made and we have not and will not interfere in this process However, we will follow these developments closely of course, follow the talks between London and Brussels and the potential consequences for Europe and for all of us. It is clear that this referendum's traumatic effect will make itself felt for a long time yet. We will see how they all put democratic principles into practice.
"Let me also stress that not only has Russia not abandoned the idea of establishing a common economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic to the Pacific together with the European Union, but we also think this would be the most promising policy in terms of guaranteeing the entire Eurasian continent's long-term sustainable development.
"As for the United States, as we know, the presidential election campaign is now in its final stage. Naturally, we will respect the American voters' choice and are ready to work with whoever becomes the next president.
"Moreover, what we want is to work in close cooperation with the United States on international affairs, but we will not accept the approach of that part of the U.S. establishment that thinks they can decide themselves in which areas we will cooperate and in which areas they will turn up the pressure, including through sanctions. We seek a partnership based on equality and consideration of each other's interests. Only on this basis can we work together...
"Our diplomats understand, of course, how important the battle to influence public opinion and shape the public mood is these days. We have given these issues much attention over recent years. However, today, as we face a growing barrage of information attacks unleashed against Russia by some of our so-called partners, we need to make even greater efforts in this direction.
"We are living in an information age, and the old saying that whoever controls information controls the world unquestionably sums up today's reality. Sometimes, you get the impression that an event has not taken place at all unless the media reports on it. [Former French President] Jacques Chirac said to me once, 'You must get the cameras in, otherwise, it will look as though we never actually met.' This is how things happen in practice.
"We must put up strong resistance to the Western media's information monopoly, including by using all available methods to support Russian media outlets operating abroad. Of course, we must also act to counter lies about Russia and not allow falsifications of history.”
