MINSK, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia has never closed its door to the West and remains ready to cooperate with Western countries that abandon hostile thinking towards it.
Meanwhile, Lavrov stressed that Russia does not want or plan to wage war with Europe, but is prepared if Europe decides to initiate conflict.
The prospect for direct dialogue with Europe remains unclear, Lavrov said, noting that the West is departing from the objective trend toward multipolarity globally.
Lavrov made the remarks at the fourth Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security that opened in the Belarusian capital on Tuesday.
The event hosted by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry brought together more than 600 representatives from around 50 countries and regions.
In his opening speech, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko noted that building a sustainable security and development model in Eurasia is a practical necessity that will benefit the world.
He said that the high level of protests across Europe should raise caution, and urged EU nations to seek avenues for cooperation.
The Belarusian president also said that the Ukrainian crisis could potentially trigger another major war and expressed hope that a peaceful resolution will be found swiftly to the conflict.
The agenda of the two-day Minsk conference includes arms control, the role of new technologies in security, and the development of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which has six members: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. ■
