lenta.ru reported on January 18 that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated at a press conference that the West puts pressure on Central Asia’s nations and demands that they join sanctions against Moscow.
Top Russian diplomat says the European Union, the United States and Japan demand that Central Asian nations refuse cooperation with Russia, because, in their opinion, “Russia will lose in the war with the West,” and propose to take the position of the “winning side.”
“In addition to such verbal influences, there is serious pressure with threats: you will lose our markets and the investments that we were going to make in your countries, don't you dare help Russia bypass sanctions,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by lenta.ru.
Russian foreign minister noted that the Central Asian nations’ governments are forced to take into account such threats
“We do not insist that all economic operators in each of our friendly states went out to the stands in the morning and spoke: “We are against anti-Russian sanctions.” It is enough for us that none of them joined the sanctions,” the minister stressed.
He reportedly drew attention to the fact that the Russian side, jointly with friendly partners, “has successfully worked through and found new mechanisms and new tools of cooperation, which will not depend on the whims of Western colleagues.”
