Lavrov Calls for Continent-Wide Security Framework for Eurasia

Dragon Media News Desk

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for a continent-wide Eurasian security framework to replace what he described as a Euro-Atlantic-centred security system. He said the framework should be open to all countries and regional organisations and reflect the realities of a multipolar world.

Addressing the high-level plenary session of the Fourth Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security on November 3, Lavrov said honest and open discussions on reliable, lasting security were more important than ever. He said the Global Majority was clearly calling for a new model of world order.

Lavrov said Russia supported building a just system of international relations based on multipolarity. He said it should reflect the cultural and civilisational diversity of the modern world and recognise every people’s right to determine its own future.

He said Russia was continuing to advance President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to establish a Greater Eurasian Partnership by strengthening ties among regional organisations across Eurasia. The process involves the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he said.

Lavrov said efforts to apply the principle of equal and indivisible security within the Euro-Atlantic framework had failed. He accused Western countries of being unwilling to cooperate on an honest and equal footing. He also described the current state of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe as deplorable, attributing it to what he called the West’s confrontational, bloc-based approach.

Questioning whether the organisation had a future, Lavrov said its history reflected the failure of the Euro-Atlantic security model. He said the model, rooted in what he described as post-Cold War illusions, required a fundamental overhaul. He accused Brussels of advocating a European security system that excluded Russia and Belarus or was directed against them.

Lavrov called for a pan-Eurasian security architecture, rather than a Euro-Atlantic one, that would be open to all countries and regional organisations on the continent. He said a commitment to indivisible security, openness and equality should mean that countries held no hostile intentions towards one another or third countries. He added that mutual security guarantees could be developed at both bilateral and multilateral levels.

He said Russia believed the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century could help build continent-wide consensus on the foundations of such cooperation.