Russia’s Lavrov Corners US Over Wars ‘Far from Its Shores’ in Fiery UN Speech, Slams West’s ‘Russophobia’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on Saturday accused the United States of trying to restore a unipolar model and slammed its western allies for its “grotesque Russophobia”.
In a veiled defence of its Russian military operation in Ukraine, Lavrov said, “Today we are witnessing sovereign states ready to defend the national interest, and this results in the creation of an equal social oriented and sustainable multiple architectures.” He claimed that the elite western countries and Washington perceive any objective geopolitical process as a threat to their dominating position.
“The US and its allies want to stop the march of history,” he said. He further accused the US to have declared themselves as an “almost envoy of god on earth” where only they have the “sacred” right of impunity, that too against any nation they are “displeased” with.
“At some point in the past, during Washington’s declaration of emerging victorious in the Cold War, Washington erected itself into an almost envoy of god on earth without any obligation but only the sacred right to act with impunity of wherever and whenever they want and this can be done anywhere against any state especially any if they are displeased,” he said.
Attacking the US for its wars in Iraq and Libya, he questioned whether the interests of the world were impacted, whether the native language was banned or the imposition of a “mass media culture.”
“We do recall the wars of aggression very far from American shores in Iraq and Libya which claimed many hundred thousands of peaceful lives. Were the interests of the world impacted in any one of those countries? Was English banned, or any native lang banned and what about mass media culture,” he asked.
Slamming the “adventurism” of the US in the Middle East, Lavrov also questioned whether rule of law, human rights or economic situations stabilised or people’s livelihoods improved for the better. “Name a country where Washington interfered by force and because of that life improved,” he said.
He said Washington is trying to restore “a unipolar model under the slogan of a rules-based order,” adding the West is “introducing dividing lines” among blocs. “Whether with us or against us, there is no third option no compromises,” he said.
Lavrov said by bringing NATO to the borders of Russia, the US has the goal of subjugating Asian countries. He claimed the “US declared the indivisible euro Atlantic and India and pacific under the slogan of Indo-pacific strategy and created closed formats. “Under the slogan of India-pacific strategy, closed formats are being created and they undermine what has been built under ASEAN for decades namely under an open and regional architecture.”
He accused the United States of “playing with fire” around Taiwan by declaring military support. “They’re playing with fire around Taiwan. On top of that, they’re promising military support to Taiwan,” Lavrov said.
He bitterly criticised western “unlawful unilateral sanctions” which he claimed not only violate the UN Charter but are also “tools of political blackmail” and accused the US of “trying to turn the entire world to its backyard”.
“Washington is trying to turn the entire world to its backyard and the way to do this is through unlawful unilateral sanctions which have for many years violated the UN Charter and used as a tool of political blackmail,” he said. “The cynicism is obvious are these restrictions hit civilians and prevent them to get access to basic goods like medications vaccines,” he said.
Addressing the secretary general, he called for special attention to helping general assembly decisions. “The general secretary also has a special role in mobilising efforts to overcome food and energy crisis which resulted in the wake of the out of control money emission by the US and EU during the pandemic and as a result irresponsible, unprofessional acts by the EU in the hydrocarbon fuel markets.
He further said that despite common sense, Washington and Brussels compounded the situation when they announced economic war on Russia, as a result, there is a growth in the price of foodstuff and oil and gas. “We welcome the role of secretary general when they arrived at the Istanbul agreements in June but they need to be implemented.” So far the grain ships with Ukrainian grain do not reach the poorest nations, Lavrov noted. He also said Russia has been saying for weeks urging the 300,000 tonnes of fertilizer held up in European ports to be sent to poor nations and free of charge to Africa but the EU is not heeding the requests.
He also accused the western nations of russophobia. “The official Russophobia in the West is unprecedented. Now the scope is grotesque,”
He also defended referendums in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, describing them as people claiming land “where their ancestors have been living for hundreds of years.”
“The West is now throwing a fit” on the referendums, Lavrov said.
Russia launched referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, drawing condemnation from Kyiv and Western nations who dismissed the votes as a sham and pledged not to recognise their results. The votes in the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were hastily organised after Ukraine recaptured large swathes of the northeast in a counter-offensive.
Ukraine, Western leaders and the United Nations condemned the “sham” votes as an illegitimate precursor to illegal annexation.
Meanwhile, police monitoring group OVD-Info counted at least 726 people detained in 32 cities across Russia, nearly half of them in Moscow, at rallies following the partial mobilisation ordered by President Vladimir Putin this week designed to bolster Russia’s operation in Ukraine.
(with inputs from AFP, Reuters)
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