Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that Europe is still not ready to engage in an "honest discussion" regarding its interests.
In remarks during a press briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson 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 neighbours still perceive its essence – or so they believe – as the continued flooding of the Kiev 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 October 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 politicised approach to the high latitudes – a region that Brussels now views primarily through the lens of escalation and, as stated, the containment of Russia."
Derailing diplomatic efforts
Turning to Ukraine, Zakharova accused Kiev 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 October 30-31.
In this context, she said that most of the organisational 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.
