Lavrov: 'Iron Curtain' is being constructed by Westerners themselves
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A meeting that brought Russian and Belarusian FMs together, concluded that the "Iron Curtain" has made a comeback and that the two nations are open to diplomacy, but this time putting themselves first.
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Decades-long relations between Moscow and the EU were effectively broken overnight by the EU
In response to the turmoil in Ukraine, Western countries are attempting to isolate Russia and Belarus by erecting a new "Iron Curtain" across Europe. In a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart on Tuesday in Minsk, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that decades-long relations between Moscow and the EU were effectively broken overnight by the EU.
Belarus' FM Vladimir Makei remarked, "The Iron Curtain is now being constructed by Westerners themselves." He made it clear that he was talking about both the construction of a physical barrier along the border between Poland and Belarus and the dissolution of political and economic connections.
Makei asserted that isolationism was biased because Belarus continues to encourage Western interaction and seeks diplomatic solutions to problems.
“It is practically already up,” Lavrov agreed, adding that Western countries “are only doing it carefully, so as not to pinch anything off, but the process is underway.”
“The summits that took place twice a year, and the meetings of the Russian government and the European Commission, and the common spaces along which the four ‘road maps’ were built, twenty sectoral dialogues, a visa-free dialogue ... All this was brought down overnight,” Lavrov said, referring to the 2014 events, during which Brussels denounced what it called Russia's "annexation" of Crimea, concluding that the “Relations have been nonexistent since then.”
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Last but not least, the Russian FM said that he “can only say that from now on, we will not trust neither the Americans nor the EU. We will do everything necessary so we don’t have to depend on them in critical sectors.”
Winston Churchill, who commanded the UK through World War Two, is credited with coining the term "Iron Curtain." In March 1946, Churchill accepted US President Harry Truman's invitation to speak at a college in Fulton, Missouri, one year after the Nazi surrender. In his speech, he predicted the coming Cold War by claiming that "an iron curtain has descended across the continent," alluding to the division in Eastern Europe that arose during that time period.
According to Western historiography, the original "Iron Curtain" was demolished in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell and Germany was reunited, and the USSR collapsed two years later. At this time the term has been revived following the Kaliningrad blockade and the erection of the wall across the Polish-Belarusian border as well as all the isolationism caused by socio-economic and political decisions and sanctions.
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