Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday there is no way that Russia joins NATO.

In an interview with the Solovyov Live YouTube channel, the top Russian diplomat said the West does not want to have rivals comparable in influence at the global stage.

Commenting on the question about the possibility of joining NATO on certain conditions, on an equal footing, the top diplomat noted that he did not assume such opportunity for Russia.

“I do not consider this possible, as the whole process does not revolve around NATO or the EU, it is about the West’s unwillingness to have any competitors in the international arena that are in the slightest degree comparable in terms of influence,” Lavrov pointed out.

According to the Russian top diplomat, such attitude of the Western states explains their “hysteria over the rise of China”, which accepted the rules of the game introduced in the global economy and “outplayed the West on its own field.”.

Source: TASS News Agency