The US is trying to curb the relations of "all the countries without exception” with Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. He was speaking in an interview with Dmitriy Kiselev, director-general of the state-owned International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya, as reported by RIA Novosti (part of Rossiya Segodnya) on 6 April.
"The Americans are in principle trying to hold back all the countries without exception in their relations with Russia. And the fact that China in particular is among those to whom their insistent demarches calling on them not to be too active towards Russia have been directed, and they have repeatedly directed such a demarche to it, makes me seriously doubt the adequacy of the decisions that are taken I do not know at what level of state,” Lavrov remarked.
"But every partner we meet, where I go, who comes to us, my counterparts, they all, ahead of their contacts, are necessarily subjected to attempts to influence them, either by the US ambassador or someone at a lower level making these demands, or some emissary from Washington going around the region and issuing warnings… [ellipsis as received] Like Ambassador [Andrew] Schapiro in Prague who’s expressed regret that (Czech President) [Milos] Zeman’s actions, going to Moscow, are short-sighted. I cannot even comment on it,” he said, as quoted in the report.
Despite these attempts to convince "ordinary people” that Russia is in isolation in the world community, however, "life itself shows that the opposite is true”, Lavrov also said, as reported by RIA Novosti separately.
"Asked about statements about Russia’s isolation against the backdrop of the planned visits to Moscow of the ministers of foreign affairs of China, Wang Yi, and of Belgium, Didier Reynders, as well as the new prime minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, Lavrov recalled the work of Soviet propaganda, which ‘sometimes, of course, was over the top ["beyond the scope of what an intelligent man perceives”]’,” the report ran.
"I have the same attitude to the ongoing attempts to ‘hammer home’ in the minds of ordinary people ["obyvatel”, where the meaning can range from something like "layman” to slightly derogatory references], for the past half a year probably, the thought that Russia is in isolation. Experience ["life itself”] shows quite the opposite,” Lavrov said.
He added: "We know what the leading TV companies which do not want to share their monopoly on the global media market are capable of.”
(RIA Novosti – April 6, 2015)
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