MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will support its allies through direct subsidies to their budgets, while trade with them will be carried out on market terms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Now that we have prepared ourselves and our allies psychologically for trade on market terms, we will be switching to the level of supporting our allies through direct subsidies to their budgets," the minister said on Kultura TV on Sunday.
As an example, the minister cited Russia's allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which receive military and technical assistance, including equipment, on extremely favorable terms.
As for building relations with partners, Lavrov warned against using outdated examples and ranking countries on a rigid scale that includes "the notion of 'enemies.'"
"We do not want to have enemies, and I think we do not have any. I am for acting through the system of flexible unions, the configuration of which will be defined by our interests in a specific situation," Lavrov said.