MUNICH. Feb 3 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggests that the fomenting of tensions in Ukraine is hardly compatible with democratic principles.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Lavrov pointed out that it has become traditional in the past several months to portray the Eastern Partnership program promoted by Brussels as a symbol of differences in political views between Russia and the EU. Russia has favored dialogue, transparency, and mutual respect for each other's interests in its relations with the EU and their common neighbors from the very start, Lavrov said.
It is good that the European Union has started to talk about this now, he said.
In order to look for mutually acceptable agreements, Lavrov insisted that it is necessary to answer some fundamental questions, in particular, regarding the situation in Ukraine. He wondered, in particular, how the escalation of street protests, which are becoming increasingly more violent, is related to the promotion of democratic principles.
The Russian foreign minister regretted that those seizing administrative buildings, attacking policemen, and making racist and anti-Semitic statements in Ukraine are not criticized in the West and that prominent European politicians in fact encourage this, while such things in their own countries are curbed immediately and severely.
Lavrov suggested that Ukraine is actually being forced to make a choice, which he said Russia will not do.