Andrei Kozyrev is the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and a direct participant in all the key events of the 90s. We talked with him about the collapse of the USSR. About the wars in Abkhazia and Chechnya. About NATO, relations with the USA and the bombing of Yugoslavia. About the elections of 1996. About Sergey Lavrov and the current Russian diplomats who continue to work for the Putin regime. Kozyrev tells many interesting stories. The main conclusion from them is that often the biggest problems are caused by accidental and absurd mistakes. Thus, Yeltsin's desire to effectively read a 300-year-old historical document led to the collapse of the USSR. And an accidental dinner between the two presidents turned into an international scandal. Kozyrev also talks about how deliberately and artificially the image of NATO as an enemy was supported in Russia and who benefited from this. About how the Russian authorities issued weapons to separatists in Abkhazia. Why in 1996 it was not necessary to choose between Yeltsin and Zyuganov and what were the alternatives. #zygar #kozyrev #interview 00:00 — Introduction 00:39 — The Belovezh Accords about the USSR ceasing to exist: who came up with them and how? Is it true that everyone was drunk? That everything was made up on the fly? 05:53 — Is it true that they wanted to preserve the USSR in some form and what ultimately prevented this? Spoiler: Like Putin, Yeltsin was let down by his love of history 12:52 — Return from Belovezhskaya Pushcha: Why everyone who “broke up” the USSR wasn’t arrested 16:01 — The first nail in the coffin of a young democracy: Why in 1991 Yeltsin didn’t allow the KGB building on Lubyanka to be stormed and the KGB archives to be opened 22:56 — Who was behind the separatists in Abkhazia and how they were given weapons 34:38 ​​— Russian foreign policy in the early 90s: the pro-Western camp led by Kozyrev vs. the security forces and Yevgeny Primakov 36:43 — Did Primakov work for the KGB 41:25 — How the security forces in the KGB wanted to deal with the CPSU and allowed the liberals to carry out reforms 45:58 — Who else was in the anti-Western camp 50:37 — Why the West hasn’t developed a plan for Russia Marshall 54:28 — Why it was easier for Russian diplomats to work with George Bush Sr. than with Bill Clinton 56:57 — How Kozyrev tried to improve relations with NATO, but Yeltsin signed a clean napkin and it turned into an international scandal 1:07:02 — Did Russia have a chance to join NATO, and why is Putin bluffing when he says that "NATO does not want to accept Russia" 1:10:42 — How the Americans violated the agreements and did not warn Russia that they were going to accept Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary into NATO 1:17:53 — Is it true that Russia was humiliated in the 90s? 1:21:02 — Sergey Lavrov and current Russian diplomats - are they criminals? 1:29:34 — What does Kozyrev regret the most. First: he should have left earlier 1:32:59 — Second: the barbaric conduct of the Chechen war and why Kozyrev voted for it 1:36:45 — Third: supporting Serbia even after the genocide in Srebrenica 1:39:42 — Fourth: it was impossible to support Yeltsin in 1996