Lavrov interview:
Lavrov: " everyone remembers Henry Kissinger’s words that the United States should have relations with China which are better than relations between China and Russia, and vice versa. He saw this historical process and knew which way it could go. "
Simes: "the EU is becoming a missionary organisation. When you deal with crusaders, trying to reckon with them or appealing to their logic and conscience is probably useless. Do you not think that the EU has journeyed to a place where there are limited opportunities for partnership and great potential for confrontation? "
Lavrov: I agree with you, absolutely. This is a missionary style – lecturing others while projecting superiority.
"We will always be willing to revive our relations, practically to raise them from the ashes, but to do this we must know what the EU is interested in. We will not knock on a locked door ... I don’t think we are courting this alliance or exaggerating its importance. It determines its place in the world itself. "
Nikonov: "I think today’s Europe is pretty empty in terms of culture."
Lavrov: "There are some funny songs; we can listen to them in the car sometimes."
" I have seen black actors perform in Shakespeare’s comedies. The only thing I do not know is when a white actor will play Othello. You see, this is nothing less than absurdity. Political correctness reduced to absurdity will lead to no good."
"The US flatly refuses to discuss ways of either making internet governance more democratic or establishing common rules regulating social networks"
"I pointed out to Tillerson that they had in fact directly stipulated in legislation that the US State Department should spend $20 million a year to support Russian civil society and promote democracy. That was not even a suspicion on our part as they did it openly (for example, the Ukraine Support Act). There was nothing to prove – they just announced that they would interfere. He told me that was totally different. I asked him why, and he said because we promoted authoritarianism, and they spread democracy."
Simes: "And he said it with sincere conviction, didn’t he?"
Lavrov: "Yes."
" I believe the 9/11 attacks were the turning point in the American life ... Since then, New York has become a different city. This free city, living its own life around the clock and enjoying it, became wary and started looking over its shoulder to see if there was someone around who could hurt it ... This suspicion then spread deeply into American society. There were probably serious reasons for that."
http://thesaker.is/crucial-interview-of-foreign-minister-lavrov-must-read/sidd
