“Nobody wishes Russia chaos”

“We’ve heard that there are some triumphant statements made by the Russian side that we have failed in creating an anti-Russian coalition. Nobody was forming an ant-Russian coalition in the first place and nobody wishes Russia chaos and collapse. Everyone just wants relations in the 21st century to be based on the principles of mutual respect, without any violations of sovereignty of neighbouring countries. It’s not the creation of a coalition against someone, it’s a coalition for internationally acknowledged rights and principles,” Linkevičius told the Žinių Radijas radio on Tuesday morning.

In his words, had EU member states responded more consistently and swiftly to the situation in Ukraine and had coordinated actions with the United states and the G7 countries, perhaps the situation could have been stabilized. Further progress in Ukraine and the general situation in the region will depend on the Western countries’ unity next year, the Lithuanian foreign minister said.

“If this coalition weakens, we’ll have problems not only in Ukraine but also in our region and elsewhere. Therefore, relations among countries and cooperation on the Ukrainian case are much wider, if we speak not only about the fate of this country,” Linkevičius underlined.