SERGEI LAVROV

NATO cannot accept that the unconstitutional coup in Ukraine has not led to the subjugation of the whole Ukrainian nation.

I can only say it is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide.

The struggle against terrorists in the territory of Syria should be structured in cooperation with the Syrian government, which clearly stated its readiness to join it.

I started, you know, to work as a diplomat during the Soviet days, and in spite of ideology being very high on the Communist Party agenda, I can assure you that in practical terms, we have always been trying to be pragmatic.

Historical experience shows that a crisis causes either a recovery or catastrophic consequences.

I don't think you can perpetrate war crimes with defensive weapons, with air defense systems.

There is nothing in this world which could be not described as requiring more.

Assertions that Russia has undermined efforts to strengthen partnerships on the European continent do not correspond to the facts.

Russia and the U.S. must jointly manage expectations to ensure that attempts to 'reset' our relationship succeed.

Shouldn't the General Assembly adopt a declaration on the inadmissibility of interference into domestic affairs of sovereign states and nonrecognition of coup d'etats as a method of the change of power?

When you buy a company at an auction, and you are committing yourself to pay some $300 million to the state because it was a privatization deal, and you don't pay it, is it OK? Isn't it something that deserves court procedures?

If it acts like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it's a terrorist, right?

You cannot strengthen the law by violating the law.

People versed in politics need not be told that the devil is in the detail, and tough solutions implying the use of force cannot produce a lasting long-term settlement.

Russia is doing all it can to promote early stabilisation in Ukraine.

We are convinced that the only way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue is through negotiations.

Russia would prefer to rebuild trust rather than allow it to further corrode. That's why, in July 2007, President Putin, in the spirit of strategic openness, proposed a truly collective effort at missile defense for Europe.

The E.U.'s Eastern Partnership programme is designed to bind the so-called focus states tightly to itself, shutting down the possibility of co-operation with Russia.

Do not form your judgment about our military doctrine from the assessments given by NATO representatives.

Russia and the U.S. bear a special responsibility in world affairs. We have much to offer the rest of the world. Our common history testifies to this, and modern challenges demand that we work together.

We keep our reserves both in dollars and in Euros mostly.

We are categorically against proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The Russian Federation and the United States of America, the two biggest nuclear powers in the world, but apart from nuclear-wise, we have a lot in common. We have huge territories, natural resources, technologies, science, education, and of course human capital.

We have been protecting the lives of the Russian peacekeepers who had been attacked by their Georgian comrades, because there was a joint peacekeeping force.

Washington has openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests.