Russia's ambassador to the European Union: The invasion of Ukraine is a Western trick, and NATO does not abide by its commitments

 While high-level diplomatic talks are still ongoing between Russia and the West, tensions also persist. Russia massed thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, while the United States responded by putting troops on high alert, ready to deploy to Europe. Is war now closer than ever? To discuss all the latest developments, we addressed our questions to the Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov.

 euronews: Let us start with the most obvious question, is Russia ready to invade Ukraine or is it a hoax?

 Permanent Representative of Russia to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov: It is not a question of readiness. Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine or any other country. It is a hoax not made in Russia, but in those countries that are now spreading this hysterical message, I would say, throughout Europe and the world.

 euronews: You said a hysterical message. But the fact is that Russia was the first to deploy weapons and offensive systems within close proximity to Ukraine. If this is not a direct challenge to the country's sovereignty, then what is?

 CHIZOV: You would be surprised at the number of offensive weapons that NATO has deployed along the Russian border. Not to mention the military bases etc. And I would add, as a statistical point, that overflights over the Russian borders in the Black Sea region, for example, last year increased by 60 percent.

 euronews: So what you are saying is that you are defending yourselves. You see a serious threat to your security from NATO but you are doing the same. You have amassed thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border. What is the stake for Russia now?

 Chizhov: The bet for Russia is Russia's national security. That is why Russia has put forward an initiative in the form of a draft agreement with the United States and NATO countries that would actually put on paper in legally binding form a number of commitments that have been agreed upon over the past thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when NATO promised in Those days not to expand east. In the words of the then US Secretary of State, "not an inch" to the east. Since then, we have faced up to five waves of NATO expansion in an eastern direction. So there is excitement today because Russia is getting closer to NATO. It is not Russia that is getting close to NATO, but NATO that is getting close to Russia.

 euronews: Russia, as I said, has made its demands, including ending NATO's eastward expansion and also effectively ending Ukraine's ambition to join the alliance. But isn't this an attempt to recreate the old Soviet spheres of influence? Is this what you are trying to do?

 CHIZOV: No, in fact, what we've been hearing from the West whether it's the United States or NATO or even the European Union in the past weeks and months is a reiteration of the principle that all independent and sovereign states have a right to their own security arrangements and the doors of NATO are open to all. But I think they have always overlooked the second part of the formula, which was actually agreed in 1999 in Istanbul, and I can quote from the European Security Charter “Every participating state has an equal right to security. We reaffirm the right of every state to be free in choosing and changing its security arrangements, including the treaties of the alliance, in the course of their evolution.” NATO has not developed, but moreover, “every country also has the right to neutrality. Each participating country will respect the rights of all others in this regard, and will not enhance its own security at the expense of the security of other countries.

euronews: What you are saying is that Ukraine's ambition to join NATO or the ambition of some democratic ex-Soviet countries is a threat to your national security, the security of Russia?

 CHIZOV: Any ambitions or plans to join any security alliance must take into account the national security interests of other states, in this case, neighboring states.  NATO's open-door policy is formulated as if NATO exists in a vacuum, as if no one is around NATO.

 euronews: So all options are open to you, including a military escalation?

 CHIZOV: Not a nuclear war.

 euronews: It is good to know.  But you know that any military escalation, any Ukrainian invasion...

 Chisov: We believe in diplomacy, and I can only hope that our interlocutors here in Europe and beyond the Atlantic will adhere to the same principle that any difference can and should be resolved by diplomatic means.

 euronews: Any military escalation also threatens the existence of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, for example.  Do you consider this a real danger, and can Russia bear the consequences of this?

 CHIZOV: You know, not just Nord Stream 2, but the general situation in terms of European security.  The European Security System, as we all conceived it in 1975 in Helsinki.

 euronews: But you didn't tell me about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Are you worried about a blow to this project?

 CHIZOV: I think European consumers should be the first to worry, because they will have to live without relatively cheap and plentiful Russian gas, and they will have to look for other ways to heat their homes, the winter is not over yet.  And of course they will have to provide electricity for their families.

 euronews: But this will cost Russia billions of euros.

 CHIZOV: Russia will find a place to sell its gas.