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RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ON YUKOS AFFAIR

LONDON, July 12 (RIA Novosti) - The Yukos affair has nothing to do with the issue of democracy and human rights, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.

Replying to the question of a British journalist on how the attitude of official London toward Russia as a democratic partner can be regarded in the light of the Yukos affair, the Russian minister said: "You must be talking about your model, your idea of Western democracy, but if the Western democracy exists, there should be both Eastern and Southern democracies."

"They exist, in principle. The main thing is correspondence to the norms of law and the Russian Federation constitution," Mr. Ivanov said.

These laws and the Constitution were adopted as a result of citizens' free honest will, stressed the minister.

"I'm not a legal expert or economist, but I know that the Yukos affair you've mentioned is being addressed in the framework of the existing legislation of the Russian Federation," he said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is on a working visit to London from July 11 to 13.