PRESS RELEASE
Lavrov: Russia Listens to Trump, Not McMaster
April 18, 2017 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would rather listen to U.S. President Donald Trump than to U.S. National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster. Speaking at a joint press conference yesterday with the Senegalese foreign minister, Lavrov responded to a press question on McMaster’s statement that it is time to have "tough discussions with Russia" on its steps in Syria. Lavrov replied that Russia relies on the words of the President, not his advisor.
According to the Foreign Ministry transcript, Lavrov said:
"This is a complex question. I have no desire to comment on the unsubstantiated accusations made against Russia. First they concerned Ukraine, and now the focus has shifted to Syria. I have seen media reports that U.S. or British officials are saying that they could cooperate with Russia if it [behaved] in Ukraine and, Syria, and now the Korean Peninsula has been added to the list. It appears that we must do something for somebody on the Korean Peninsula too, although we did not create the chaos that is reigning there.
"ISIS, and before it, al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra, are the offspring of opportunistic projects that involved our Western partners, primarily many U.S. administrations, which began by supporting the mujahideen in Afghanistan and praising them as freedom fighters, and continued this policy in Iraq and Libya. And now that these countries have been ruined, it appears that we must pay for the consequences.
"This is not how partners act. This approach is not acceptable to us. We will not listen to what President Trump’s advisor has said, but what President Trump himself has said, that he is optimistic when it comes to improving relations with Russia. We are ready for this."
