MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. Western countries are seeking to destroy independent centers of power and erase the identity of other cultures to maintain their dominance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said.

"Today, we are witnessing again how, in an attempt to preserve their own dominance, Western countries are seeking to destroy independent centers of power, erase the identity of other cultures under the motto of promoting so-called European values," the senior Russian diplomat said in an address to the Second International Scientific and Practical Conference "Genocide of Slavic Peoples in the 20th Century."

According to Galuzin, Russia’s Foreign Ministry pays "the most serious attention to the protection of the rich culture shared by the Slavic world and the memory of numerous tragic pages of Slavic history." "This is of tantamount importance for Russian citizens living abroad as it serves as confirmation of our country’s readiness to reliably ensure their legitimate rights and interests," he concluded in the address released on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.