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Interview with Russian Foreign Minister

Moscow Optimistic about America's New Beginning

Part 2: 'The West Is Applying a Double Standard'

SPIEGEL: What does this mean for Georgia?

Lavrov: Georgia has two small minorities that it has treated chauvinistically since the days when the Soviet Union was broken up. President Mikheil Saakashvili himself destroyed Georgia's territorial integrity when he ordered bombing raids against a peaceful city in South Ossetia. That was a crime against its own people because the violence was directed against inhabitants who Saakashvili had earlier described as citizens of his state.

SPIEGEL: But the fact remains that with its army Russia has ignored Georgia's territorial integrity, while in Kosovo it maintains that this is a sacred principle.

Lavrov: Both situations appear similar on the surface, but the West is applying a double standard. There was also a war in Kosovo -- a long, brutal conflict that, from our perspective, fully contravened international law. It was ended with UN Resolution 1244 in 1999, a decision that Serbia respected. In contrast to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Albanians in Kosovo were not pressured by anyone, and they were not attacked. There were no grounds for Kosovo's declaration of independence.

SPIEGEL: No one has followed the Russian example of recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not even your closest allies have done so. Has this surprised you?

Lavrov: We were not out to achieve some geopolitical effect. This was about protecting people who over the past 20 years have repeatedly been the victims of provocations and attacks. Following the Georgian aggression, we did not intend to recognize both republics. The Sarkozy-Medvedev paper promised to address the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia following the cease-fire.

SPIEGEL: And why didn't this happen?

Lavrov: When Sarkozy presented the plan in Tbilisi, Saakashvili categorically refused to talk about the status question. Then the NATO-Russia Council refused to deal with the issue, as did the UN Security Council. Finally, the Georgian leadership declared that the war was not over, and that they would continue to pursue it at some point in time. And then voices could be heard in the West saying they intended to bolster Georgia's military. So we came to the following conclusion: We can only secure the sheer survival of South Ossetia and Abkhazia if we recognize them as independent states.

SPIEGEL: Let's look ahead. The war in Afghanistan is the greatest foreign policy challenge that the new US administration faces. Russia must also have an interest in preventing the West from failing in the Hindu Kush. How can you help?

Lavrov: In April 2008, we signed an agreement with NATO concerning the transit of nonmilitary goods over Russian territory to Afghanistan. Up until now, such agreements have only been made with Germany and France, and recently one was concluded with Spain. In late January, the US asked us to apply the NATO agreement as the basis for supplying the American contingent. We immediately consented and have also agreed with NATO to make Russian military transporters available to the peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan. We could also work more closely together to curb drug trafficking.

SPIEGEL: That all sounds very encouraging. But why does Kyrgyzstan now, of all times, want to close the last American Air Force base in central Asia that supplies Afghanistan -- apparently in reaction to pressure from Russia?

Lavrov: This is a decision by the Kyrgyz leadership. There were many incidents that caused dissatisfaction: Once an American soldier shot a Kyrgyz citizen and the police were not allowed to investigate the case; on another occasion, an American ran over pedestrians without legal consequences. In another incident, tons of jet fuel was dropped on Kyrgyz villages, and once again no one was held responsible. The Americans have even damaged the official state aircraft of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

SPIEGEL: Now Russia has agreed to grant significant loans to Kyrgyzstan -- are you saying this is just a coincidence?

Lavrov: We have signed the corresponding agreement. Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries and an ally. We treat an ally the way it should be.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Minister, we thank you for this interview.

Interview conducted by Andrei Batrak, Martin Doerry, Christian Neef and Matthias Schepp. Translated from the German by Paul Cohen.