In an article published in a newspaper, Lavrov stated: “The human rights tools promoted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were used, and as it appears today, they primarily aimed at blatant interference in the internal affairs of Russia and other member states.” The minister added that the West exploited the organization’s discussions on human rights issues from the beginning to “impose neoliberal values, and attempt to create a loyal fifth column in Eastern European countries through a network of NGOs and media outlets.” Lavrov pointed out that the organization abandoned its core tasks, such as promoting intercultural dialogue, ensuring freedom of access to information, and protecting the rights of religious and national minorities. He noted that Western countries and the organization’s executive institutions “ignore the campaigns to eradicate the Russian language and culture in Ukraine, Kyiv’s campaign against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the revocation of citizenship from its leader.” The minister also criticized: In the same context, Lavrov noted that “European countries and Moldova impose repressive measures against Russian journalists, while the media space in Ukraine is being cleansed. At the same time, Russian media outlets like RT and Sputnik are banned from operating in France, under the pretext that they are not media but merely official Russian propaganda tools.” The minister reminded that France itself initiated the “Paris Charter for a New Europe” in 1990, which stipulated the commitment of all organization members to ensure freedom of access to information within their territories and beyond, adding: “It seems that this promise has also become part of the past and fallen victim to cancel culture.” Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Minister confirmed that the West’s intention to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia through the Kyiv regime became clear since 2021, following Washington and Brussels’ rejection of Russian proposals on security guarantees. Lavrov clarified in his article that the United States and the European Union rejected in December 2021 the last Russian attempt to reach an agreement on security guarantees after Moscow presented draft documents on the matter, noting that the West at that time considered that “no one has the right to prevent NATO expansion, including at Ukraine’s expense.” The minister added: Lavrov pointed out that this was later confirmed by the admissions of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former French President François Hollande, and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who openly acknowledged that their signatures on the Minsk agreements in February 2015 were merely a “trick” to buy time to arm “Ukrainian Nazis” to wage war against Russia. Since February 24, 2022, the Russian armed forces have been executing operations aimed at disarming Ukraine and eliminating threats posed by it to Russia’s security, and protecting civilians who have been persecuted for 8 years in the Donbas region by the Kyiv regime.
