NATO expansion harms talks on European security: Russian FM

MOSCOW - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) "reckless expansion" undermines the prospect for further normal dialogue on European security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

As NATO is expanding in the eastern, northern and other directions, the bloc is "absorbing almost all neutral nations," Lavrov said during a briefing following talks with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik.

The situation in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is "deplorable" and "continues to worsen due to the unwillingness of NATO members to moderate their ambitions to dictate everything and to return to a respectful, equal dialogue," he added.

Most countries strive for a multipolar world but some only want to maintain their hegemony, Aleinik said.

"The process of global transformation and the progressive transition to a multipolar world launched by the West itself cannot be reversed," he said.