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Sergei Lavrov: â€œWe are fully aware of all US and European interests in the Caucasus and Central Asiaâ€

22 October 2011 08:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh â€“ APA. â€œOur common interests are to work for collective benefits and gain them through our great cooperation potential. This is done firstly for the benefit of people who live in these regions and for the best of our countries whose cooperation rests on the principle of mutual benefit. This also concerns US activity in the Russiaâ€™s neighboring regions â€“Central Asia and the South Caucasus. We stated long time ago that Russia doesnâ€™t monopolize relations with these countries as soon as they have gained independenceâ€, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in his interview to Russian radio stations. â€œWe treat them with full respect as sovereign states which are free to choose their partners. Thus, US interests in the regions alarm Russia from the point of view of drug trafficking threats that may affect Russia, Europe and even the USâ€, he said.

â€œThe US and the European nations have their interests in Central Asia and South Caucasus, prompted by the importance of these regions from the point of view of terrorist and drug threat, which also affects Russia, Europe and the US. And also from the point of view of energy and transport lines connecting East and West. We are fully aware of all this interests and all we want is for these geopolitical players to implement their interests here with due regard for those of the regional states and, of course, of the Russian Federation, especially bearing in mind our traditionally close ties with our neighbors in Central Asia, Trans-Caucasus and Europe, the former Soviet republics. Thatâ€™s the foundation on which we are trying to build our cooperation, and I think itâ€™s the only way to goâ€.