Moscow says its new Foreign Policy Concept will be in line with changes in Int’l situation

Tensions over Ukraine are continuing to escalate amid new allegations that Russia may invade the former Soviet state on February 16, claims that are already rejected by Moscow. Now, speaking to Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia’s foreign policy concept will be finalised in line with the current global developments. Peskov informed that Moscow’s foreign policy documents are undergoing changes. 

“You know that just a week earlier, at the operational meeting of the permanent members of the Security Council, the main outlines of our new foreign policy concept were being considered. And [now] it will be finalised as we take into account what is happening [in the world]. In this regard, the situation is not static, and it develops dialectically on our part", the Kremlin spokesperson underlined.

Further, touching upon disarmament-related issues, Dmitry Peskov admitted that “everything is not very good”. He warned that Russia should brace for “many years” of difficult positional confrontations in the course of negotiations, “the effectiveness of which raised a question mark”. He also went on to point out that in terms of conceptual issues for Moscow, the United States continues to ignore Russia’s concerns. “I mean the questions raised by (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin about security guarantees”, the Kremlin spokesman pointed out.

Dmitry Peskov went on to say that even though the situation is complicated, Moscow continues to prepare for the worst and hopes for the best. He stressed that Russia expects that the “scarce channels” for dialogue will nevertheless allow Moscow to find some kind of reciprocity among the country’s opponents and a desire to find solutions. 

Russia will look for opportunities to expand cooperation with EU, US

The Kremlin spokesperson also focused on European states’ “consistent and very energetic” attempts “to strengthen the direction of foreign policy and security in their integration processes”, something that Pesokov said that the EU fails to successfully resolve, not least due to Washington’s influence. He said that the US has “never experienced” a lack of perseverance and even a cowboy approach in trying to influence its partners in Europe” and telling them what to do.

“We are well aware of all this, which, of course, runs counter to the desire of Europeans to become more sovereign in their foreign policy interests. Let's hope, however, that common sense will prevail here, and that the Europeans will first of all think about our common home, Europe, where we live side by side and are immediate neighbours”, Peskov emphasised.

Moreover, he also signalled Russia’s interest in developing trade and economic as well as investment and security cooperation both with Moscow’s European partners and Washington. “But love cannot be forced, so Russia will, of course, look for opportunities to expand cooperation where it sees reciprocity”, the Kremlin spokesman added.

Meanwhile, Peskov’s remarks come amid escalating tensions over allegations about Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine. Western leaders have vowed to take “swift and deep sanctions” against Moscow should it march on Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other hand, has said that Moscow will attack on February 16. 

(Image: AP)