The Russian foreign minister has called on Brussels and Washington to start working together to upgrade the international relations systems, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Sputnik International reported.
"Russia is open to an equal, mutually respectful partnership that will be based on the balance of interests with the EU in order to find effective solutions to the challenges of a present day. We are ready to build relations with the US and other countries basing on the same principles," Lavrov said.
Commenting on the Moscow-Brussels ties, Lavrov said that the European Union has failed to find a golden mean in relations with Russia in the last decades, treating the country in 1990s as an "aprentice" that should be taught in accordance with western standards and values. Now, the other irrational myth about the so-called "Russian threat" is being exploited, Lavrov went on to note, with the western states accusing Moscow of meddling in every controversial event, including Brexit and the Catalan referendum on independence.
He stressed that the both stereotypes are wrong and reveal lack of sense and understanding of Russia in the EU.
The foreign minister also said that Moscow hasn't changed its approach towards Brussels and wishes that the EU remains unified and serves the basic interests of its member-states.
"[The EU countries] hould define on how to develop their own economies and their external economic ties, for example, how to ensure that their needs in energy are being met out of their own decisions or influenced by others. I hope that they would be responsible and, I would like to highlight it, autonomous in international affairs," he said.
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