Russia to work for flexible alliances against hardline blocs: Lavrov

Moscow, Mar 31 (UNI) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today said Moscow will work for a network diplomacy of flexible alliances against hardline blocs to meet its vital national interests.

''The time of hardline alliances unequivocally based on the discipline of blocs has gone,'' Mr Lavrov said in an interview to prestigious Russian daily Izvestia published today.

''Today we need a network diplomacy, a diplomacy of flexible alliances, which can change depending on what problem should be solved,'' he added stressing, ''We are trying to work this way and as a result step up stable partnership ties in all regions of the world without exception.'' Referring to how the US foreign policy is affecting Russian national interests, he said US was a 'power with truly global interests.' ''They are looking for ways of an utterly reliable supply to the US economy with energy carriers and are seeking to have access to any point in the world in order to destroy terrorists, who may plot some actions against the US there,'' he stated.

''Certainly they need some partners, on which they can always influence actively to mobilise resources of these partners for their foreign political purposes. For example, for the support of the combat actions in Afghanistan and Iraq,'' Mr Lavrov noted.

He said Russia should take into account the present-day reality as the US was trying to increase its influence and military presence in the former Soviet republics.

''Washington is infiltrating much more actively in the post-Soviet space. Ukraine and Georgia are graphical examples.

If Ukraine and Georgia enter NATO, this will result in a considerable negative geopolitical shift,'' he warned ahead of the NATO meeting in Bucharest, Romania on April 3-4.

''We witness how work is proceeding with Central Asian states, Azerbaijan in order to deliver their energy resources bypassing Russia, and along some routes, which are controlled all the same by the governments sharing the US position,'' Mr Lavrov said.

He stressed that Russia's major response should be our attractiveness in all aspects in economic, political, cultural as well as to secure the tranquility and the defence capacity of the former Soviet republics.

UNI XC PD DB1904