Lavrov: West’s ‘Megalomania’ triggered Ukraine Crisis

Lavrov: West’s ‘Megalomania’ triggered Ukraine Crisis

by aletho

Al-Manar | May 23, 2014

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov slammed the west over the current situation in Ukraine, saying that the West triggered the crisis by its megalomania.

In a speech at a security conference in Moscow organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, Lavrov said that the Ukrainian crisis is a natural result of the West’s expansion of its influence eastwards at the expense of Russian interests.

The turbulence in Ukraine is reminiscent of the violence and bloodshed that Europe experienced in the 20th century, Lavrov told the conference.

“The European continent, which brought two global military catastrophes in the last century, is not demonstrating an example to the world of peaceful development and broad cooperation,” he said, adding that the situation wasn’t accidental, but rather “a natural result of the developments over the past quarter of a century.”

“Our Western partners rejected a truly historic chance to build a greater Europe in favor of border lines and the habitual logic of expanding the geopolitical space under their control to the East,” Lavrov stressed.

“This is de facto a continuation of a policy of containing Russia in a softer wrapping,” he added.

"If we sincerely want to help the Ukrainian people overcome this crisis, it's necessary to abandon the notorious zero-sum games, stop encouraging xenophobic and neo-Nazi sentiments and get rid of dangerous megalomania," the top Russian diplomat said.