Lavrov denies that Moscow now prioritizes East over West in its policy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied that Moscow has been prioritizing its relations with Asian countries over its ties with the West in the past years.

"There can be no talk about reorientation, because we are already oriented toward the West, the East, the South, and the North due to our fate, geography, and history and due to our predecessors' activities," Lavrov said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"It is in our best interests to use Russia's geological, geopolitical, and geo-economic location as much as possible, especially considering that, as you know, economic and social growth of Siberia and the Far East is among priorities for the Russian government," he said.

At the same time, "we are not talking about doing all this and forgetting what takes place in our relations with our European and South-Asian partners," he said.