On Nov. 9, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told an OSCE‑sponsored roundtable in Moscow that Russia has no intention, plans or reason to attack European countries, a claim reported only by Xinhua.
Ryabkov criticized Western leaders for treating a potential European conflict as “almost predetermined and inevitable,” arguing that Moscow would respond only if it were provoked. He added that some European governments had not genuinely sought to end the Russia‑Ukraine war, and that the conflict could have been resolved had Western policy taken Russian interests into account.
He stressed that long‑term stability cannot be achieved without consideration of Russia’s interests and that NATO’s “escalation management” concept was harmful, a view echoed at the same event by Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna Negotiations.
Ryabkov urged that Russia‑Europe relations could move forward once both sides engage on equality, indivisible security, pragmatism and mutual consideration of interests.
In summary, the statement conveys Russia’s position that it poses no threat to Europe and will only act if faced with aggression—a stance offered publicly only by Xinhua on the day.”}
