Russia expressed its willingness to break the ice with the United States and called for the establishment of a "post-Western world order."
BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua)-According to foreign media reports, the Munich Security Conference in Germany was recently unveiled. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said in his speech that Russia hopes to develop pragmatic relations with the United States on the basis of mutual respect. He described NATO as a "cold war organization", and its expansion has made the situation in Europe more tense than ever in the past 30 years, calling for an end to the world order dominated by western countries and the establishment of a "post-Western world order" that attaches importance to national sovereignty.
Lavrov also praised the new American government, saying that Russia is now seeking to improve relations with the United States and establish a "pragmatic" relationship. He believes that the most important thing in Russian-American relations is to "respect each other and jointly recognize the responsibility of the two countries for global stability."
Before Lavrov’s speech, US Vice President Mike Pence promised in his speech that the United States would continue to support NATO allies. "In the name of President Trump, I assure you that the United States firmly supports NATO and we will unswervingly fulfill our responsibilities to the transatlantic alliance."
He tried to eliminate the negative impact of Trump’s recent remarks on NATO, and emphasized to European allies: "The United States will always be your most important ally. We share common values. Our struggle to jointly defend democracy has gone through several generations. "
Burns also said that Trump believes that "our military strength must be strong." He stressed that the United States under Trump will be stronger than ever. At the same time, he also criticized that the distribution of responsibilities within NATO has been unfair for a long time, and "it is time to make a change."
British Foreign Secretary Michael Fallon also expressed his support for NATO. He said: "Although Britain will leave the EU, it will not leave Europe. Therefore, Britain will continue to play a strong role in NATO. "
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the United States and other countries to support and strengthen multilateral organizations such as the European Union, "hoping that all countries can find common ground and build a better world".
She promised to improve relations with Russia, but reiterated that the Minsk Agreement signed the year before last is the only basis for resolving the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Ukrainian pro-Russian separatists. Merkel also admitted that Europe cannot fight terrorism alone and must be supported by the United States.
In her speech, Merkel also mentioned relations with Russia. She said that Germany will not neglect to maintain good relations with Moscow. "On the issue of combating Islamic terrorism, the EU and Russia share common interests."
Merkel also shouted to the European people, calling on everyone to see the fruits of European integration. She mentioned that the social market economy brought a wide range of benefits to the people after World War II.
She also said that the EU must learn to focus on the most important issues, and should overcome difficulties and avoid a decline in competitiveness. Merkel criticized: "The EU system is not efficient enough. We must make the EU stronger and more capable of coping with the crisis."