Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that “practically all major parts” of the Eurasian continent are affected by the crisis, calling for a new framework of dialogue to address what he described as the root causes of regional instability.
Speaking at a meeting of the commission of the General Council of the United Russia party on international cooperation and support for compatriots abroad, Lavrov argued that long-term stability in Eurasia required the construction of a broader security and development architecture based on confidence-building measures and economic integration, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.
He said the Ukraine conflict, which he described as having been initiated by the West, remains one of the central crises affecting the region.
Lavrov linked Moscow’s vision for regional order to President Vladimir Putin’s concept of a “Greater Eurasian Partnership”, which he said envisages closer coordination between major integration frameworks across the continent.
These, he said, include the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), alongside China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“The idea is to build links between integration structures and projects so that further steps in developing Eurasia’s resources are carried out in the most optimal way and in the interests of all participants,” Lavrov said, adding that dialogue among these groupings is already underway.
He also pointed to the Gulf Cooperation Council as another important regional framework involved in both economic and security cooperation, as well as Kazakhstan’s Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia initiative.
Lavrov said that coordination among these organisations could help establish a system of “mutual trust” and greater transparency in military affairs, while strengthening the economic foundations needed for long-term stability across the continent.
