Celebrating 90 Years - Foreign Policy Association

One can essentially conclude
that diplomacy is gaining mo-
mentum around the world, which
is another direct consequence
of the emancipation of interna-
tional relations after the end of
the Cold War.
Council of Europe, and elsewhere. Of course
I accept their right to act in this way, but they
should certainly remember that in terms of
pluralistic democracy, the EU in its external
context should seek a broader consensus than
its own majority. Otherwise, we will be dealing
with a situation resembling the democratic
centralism of the Soviet Union’s Communist
Party, in which the minority was always
required to follow the majority.
Russia is by no means interested in seeing
the United States retire into its shell and mind
its own business internationally, as called for by
a considerable part of U.S. public opinion. But
Russia cannot cooperate according to dictated
terms. We cannot always put ourselves into
someone else’s shoes, as we are asked to, and
take into account someone else’s concerns
while our own interests and concerns, are
not taken into account. This position applies
not just to the United States; it applies to any
partner that would like to cooperate with us.
The European security architecture and
its elements are becoming unsustainable. This
situation is fraught with risks, and Russia will
have no other choice but to opt out of these
structures and then to start cooperating with
them, including with NATO, on an ad hoc basis.
Our partners will have to decide how to insure
viability of the European security structures
on their own, without Russia’s participation, if
they opt for such action.
I think there is only one way to prevent
the situation from evolving in this direction:
create an open system of collective security.
We put forward proposals on how to
salvage the European structure at the CFE
[Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]
conference of participating states, and we
are open to discussion of counterproposals. I
know that the Germans and the French have
some ideas, and the Americans are moving in
the same direction. I welcome the discussion
as we stand ready to interact with NATO
in Europe, as well as in other parts of the
world, with the concurrent involvement of
relevant regional organizations. For over two
years, we have been proposing a partnership
between NATO and the [Commonwealth of
Independent States] Collective Security Treaty
Organization regarding Afghanistan, where we
do not have any differences at all. Afghanistan
must not be allowed to become a nest for
terrorists again, and the drug problem must be
resolved. Unfortunately, we have received no
response to our offer so far.
The era of great geographical discoveries
is long gone, and there is no vacuum
anywhere that has to be filled. One can
essentially conclude that diplomacy is gaining
momentum around the world, which is another
direct consequence of the emancipation of
international relations after the end of the
Cold War. Diplomacy will inevitably devalue
cumbersome and rigid old alliances that have
fixed obligations for involvement against
FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION | 75
MEETINGS: PRESENTATION BY SERGEY VIKTOROVICH LAVROV