The Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected claims of any aggressive aspirations as outright speculation

The Russian Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from provocative remarks made by journalist Vladimir Solovyov, reiterating Moscow's commitment to what it described as "brotherly friendship and cooperation" with post-Soviet states.

The controversy stems from a January 10 broadcast on Solovyov's private channel, 'Solovyov Live', in which he argued Russia should emulate the US by clearly defining its own "zone of influence."

"The games are over. To hell with international law, international order," Solovyov said, citing the military operation in Ukraine as an example of Russia protecting its national security interests. "Why, based on the same considerations, can we not launch an operation in another country, in other points of our zone of influence?"

He went on to argue that Russia's main challenges lie closer to home, describing Armenia and Central Asia as areas demanding far greater attention.

The remarks prompted a diplomatic response from Armenia, whose Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as an "unacceptable encroachment" on the country's sovereignty . In Kyrgyzstan, MP Dastan Bekeshev urged the Foreign Ministry to declare Solovyov persona non grata.

At a weekly briefing on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was asked whether Solovyov's comments reflected official policy.

"Official positions are expressed by authorized official persons," she said, stressing that the journalist's remarks amounted to a private "opinion," framed as a "rhetorical question" and aired on a private platform.

Zakharova accused "armchair analysts" of deliberately presenting Solovyov's statements as official policy, calling it an "unacceptable manipulation." She said the episode had been used to fuel "a whole range of conjectures and outright speculation" about alleged Russian "aggressive aspirations" toward post-Soviet states.

"Our country is historically connected with the peoples of the South Caucasus and Central Asia by relations of good neighborliness, strategic partnership, alliance, brotherly friendship and cooperation," Zakharova said, pointing to ongoing high-level dialogue within the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) frameworks as the foundation of Moscow's relations with its neighbors.

(RT.com)