Russia "to be firm in defending its interests"

Russia "to be firm in defending its interests"

MOSCOW -- Russia's Sergei Lavrov has warned against unilateral steps in handling world problems, and mentioned NATO's aggression "against Yugoslavia" as an example.

"The world today is getting polycentric and multipolar. We are witnesses to soaring competition in various spheres. The awareness of this truth should serve as a warning against attempts by one group of countries to dictate solutions to others. This has not been eradicated yet," the Russian foreign minister told members of the Youth Civic Chamber.

"In a situation where there must be common approach we see unilateral steps undermining the success of our solutions," Lavrov said, and added:

"Over the past few years we have been able to see what this leads to. There was the aggression against Yugoslavia, illegal intervention in Iraq, and the bombardments of Libya. Now we can see that in Syria."

Speaking about the Ukrainian crisis, TASS quoted him as saying it was "a direct effect of attempts by our Western counterparts to preserve and move to the east the division lines in the Euro-Atlantic space."

"We are against such attempts. We do not wish confrontation, but we shall be firm in defending our interests and doing what we deem right on the basis of international law. We believe that this is the optimal way of ensuring Russia's interests," Lavrov said.