Russia vehemently denies slightest insinuations to rewrite history

Former USSR members will not be allowed to bill Russia 

The Russian administration harshly denounces any attempts to rewrite history. “One can see that several foreign states attempt to rewrite history and bill Russia for the joint past,” the minister said Thursday during his speech at the Moscow Institute of International Relations.

”As a matter of fact, it goes about the use of instruments of democracy, the free media in particular, to interfere in our internal matters and achieve certain goals as far as Russia is concerned. Our attitude to it is negative. Russia will continue to strengthen its positions in the world – this will be our response to the current trend,” the head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Russia said.

Sergei Lavrov also stated that anti-Russian sentiments in Western media outlets have become more tangible recently. The minister exemplified his affirmation and said that foreign reporters often refer to the current changes in Russia as “imperial ambitions.” Lavrov said that Russia was only trying to become a worthy member of the international community. Furthermore, commenting Western journalists' opinion about the creation of authoritarian tendencies in Russia, Sergei Lavrov said that “Russia was strengthening its state structure.”

The head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry acknowledged that there were certain problems, of course, which Russia was experiencing in the process. “One has to admit that everything is not perfect. There are a lot of problems to be solved at this point,” said he. However, Lavrov pointed out that it took Russia 15 years to accomplish the goals, on which Western countries had to spend hundreds of years.

The processes, which take place on the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are highly important in terms of the Russian border security. “A lot of grand changes have occurred on the post-Soviet space in immediate proximity to Russia's borders. These processes directly affect our security and the security of our borders. They also influence the conditions for the economic growth of Russia,” the minister said. Lavrov pointed out that the republics of the former USSR would undoubtedly remain the first priority of Russia's foreign policy.

Sergei Lavrov also established the fact of double standards in terms of the anti-terrorist struggle. “Unfortunately, we currently have to face the issue of double standards, in the field of the anti-terrorist struggle inclusive. This phenomenon complicates the struggle with this evil,” the minister concluded. “There are politicians in foreign states, who perceive Russia from the traditional pro-imperial standpoint. There are those, who view Russia as a competitor, which is quite normal,” said he.

Speaking about the talks regarding Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization, Sergei Lavrov said that Russia would not agree to make ungrounded concessions. “There is an impression that someone is trying to obtain groundless concessions from Russia during these talks. It will not work. Russia will not sacrifice its national interests to artificial terms of joining the organization, the Foreign Affairs Minister said. According to Mr. Lavrov, the conditions of WTO membership must allow Russia protect its interests for its nation and parliament.