Former Russian foreign minister warns ‘self-centred’ Nato risks deeper crisis over Ukraine

Igor Ivanov tells forum in Beijing that the West was seeking to put its own interests above those of others

But the EU’s ambassador to China Nicolas Chapuis says Nato’s members joined of their own free will and rebuts suggestions it betrayed Russia by expanding eastward

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Igor Ivanov, was Russian foreign minister between 1998 to 2004. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:46pm, 3 Jul 2022Updated: 10:22pm, 3 Jul 2022

A former Russian foreign minister has accused Nato of adopting a “self-centred” approach that could lead to a deeper crisis following the invasion of Ukraine.

Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister between 1998 to 2004, told diplomats and academics at a forum in Beijing on Sunday that the West was convinced it was the sole winner from the Cold War and was seeking to put its own interests above all other.

“Unfortunately, nations of the West are not giving up every attempt to secure a one-sided unilateral military advantage but [undermining] the security of other countries, fuelling more competition in geopolitics and moving forward with directing exclusive blocs.”

Ivanov, now president of the Moscow-based Russian International Affairs Council think tank, said Nato’s new strategic blueprint – which defines Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to allied security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area”– was “clearly inconsistent with the idea of indivisible security and equal rights of sovereign states”.

He added: “At some point, this self-centred approach will produce a deep crisis.”

He warned the World Peace Forum, hosted by Tsinghua University, that the war in Ukraine has already made a sharp watershed between Russia and Europe and that the divergence “will continue for a long time”.

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