"Now the yardstick is whether [this or that] country shares the objectives we wish to attain," the minister told an NTV morning show, speaking about relations with other states.
"We want to live well," he said and added that the ultimate goal was to raise the well-being of the citizens and diminish the number of poor people. He described the only way to well-being as "only through security."
"To pursue a consistent foreign policy, one needs stability at home," the minister argued.
Lavrov listed "terrorism and activities linked to it: drug trafficking and all sorts of extremists" as major security challenges.
"Everyone who fights against them is our ally," he added.
The Russian minister underscored that strengthening relations with neighboring state was among Russia's top foreign policy priorities.
"One will want to live in friendship with one's neighbors," he said, "this is a priority for any country."
Lavrov also said he saw visa-free traveling regime between Russia and the EU as a viable prospect for the future, citing what European commission Chairman Romano Prodi said at the latest Russia-EU Summit, that 2008 was "quite a realistic objective" in that context.
"Currently we are beginning talks on lifting some entry restrictions," he said and added that talks on visa-free traveling would make the second stage of the talks.
When asked whether Russia would alter something in its Middle East activities now that Yassir Arafat has gone, the Russian Foreign Minister said that this country would hardly change its policies in the region.
"[Russia's policy] was not about supporting this or that personality," he emphasized.
In its Mideast policy, he went on, Russia has always promoted compliance with UN resolutions providing for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Lavrov said that Arafat "was a decisive actor in Palestinian society and enjoyed undoubted popular support."
The Russian minister said that a new leader of the Palestinian Authority should be aware of his accountability to his people. Lavrov described Abu Mazen recently appointed to preside over the Authority as a statesman who "is aware of this accountability." Though both sides of the Middle East Conflict are unwinding the "spiral of violence", there will hopefully be no chaos in the area, he said.
When asked about Georgian sovereignty, Lavrov described setting some artificial terms of re-establishment of the country's sovereignty as counterproductive.
"Setting some artificial terms of re-establishment of Georgian sovereignty is deadly counterproductive," he told the NTV network.
From his perspective, both the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts should be resolved on the basis of already available procedures (South Ossetia and Abkhazia are self-proclaimed republics in Georgia. Georgia has engaged in recently aggravated conflicts with these two provinces in the early 1990s. Many residents of the two breakaway areas have Russian citizenship.).
Lavrov said Russia endorsed Georgia's territorial integrity.
"We will embrace any agreement the sides will come to," he said.
The Russian minister underscored that "we want to be friends" with Georgia, "be good next-door neighbors." However, he said, "we have many problems at the border."
Lavrov said Russia was observing "with great attention" what was going on in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"We have our fellow countrymen there, and we do care about the well-being of Russian citizens," he said.
