Russia says Europe still not ready to engage in ‘honest discussion’ regarding its interests

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Europe is still not ready to engage in an “honest discussion” regarding its interests.

In remarks during a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the leadership of European institutions continues to make demands of Moscow that are “entirely detached from reality.”

“As for European security, our Western neighbors still perceive its essence-or so they believe-as the continued flooding of the Kyiv regime with weapons and open preparation for a direct confrontation with our country in the coming years,” Zakharova said.

Noting that the Russian side has not seen any shift in the approach taken by the majority of European Union politicians in this regard, she argued that the 27-member bloc’s new Arctic strategy published on Oct. 20 shows Brussels’ intent to “continue pursuing active military development” in the region.

She described the revised document as “lacking both originality and fresh thinking,” adding: “In effect, this cements the EU’s politicized approach to the high latitudes-a region that Brussels now views primarily through the lens of escalation and, as stated, the containment of Russia.”

Turning to Ukraine, Zakharova accused Kyiv of trying to derail diplomatic efforts by Moscow and Washington to resume consultations on a settlement for the over four-year war, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being “literally obsessed” with continuing the conflict.

She also said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on Oct. 30-31.

In this context, she said that most of the organizational issues for the Russian delegation’s participation in the meeting have been resolved.

“I should mention, however, that given that the departure is scheduled for within the next 24 hours, most issues were successfully resolved at the last minute. So the delegation has been formed, all formalities are complete, and it is ready to get to work,” she said.