Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, criticized the United States for trying to destabilize the world, during his annual press conference. He said that the current administration must understand that they are no longer the world’s only superpower and the world is now multipolar.
Mr. Lavron said that Moscow has tried to improve its relations with the new administration, but Washington keeps pushing an anti-Russia agenda – which was also promoted by the Obama Administration according to him – that looks forward to avoiding the emergence of Russia as one of the global powers. He blames Washington for provoking North Korea into nuclear confrontation and for obstructing the Iran nuclear agreement.
“Unfortunately, our American colleagues still want to operate only on the basis of dictating policy, issuing ultimatums, they do not want to hear the perspectives of other centers of world politics,” Mr. Lavrov explained. “I would say that the [U.S.] administration’s actions indicate the fear of honest competition in a whole number of spheres,” added the foreign minister.
Trump is provoking Kim Jong Un
Russian Foreign Minister talked about diverse topic in Russia’s international agenda during a two-hour long conference. He addressed the relations of Russia with China, Europe, the United States. Lavrov also showed concerns regarding the current situation in the Korean Peninsula.
With all of the topics he discussed, he came back to the same thing, the fact that Washington’s foreign policy is extremely aggressive and that its international actions are inevitably failing and, in some cases, have led to dangerous situations.
This is particularly true when it comes to the actions taken by the United States towards the missile program of North Korea and the Iran nuclear agreement. The foreign minister criticized Washington for becoming a destabilizing force in the new global scenario. He said the U.S need to face reality and adapt to the multipolar world that exists now. He said the United States could not dictate policies and threaten countries because it is no longer the only superpower worldwide.
When it comes to the situation in the Korean peninsula, Lavrov said that the U.S is provoking North Korean by saying there is still a military option on the table and by continuing to conduct military exercises on the peninsula. As well, he said that Trump doesn’t take the situation quite seriously, for he has tweeted on several times to criticize Pyongyang for its missile tests, and he has even boasted in tweets by saying that his nuclear button is bigger than Kim Jong Un’s.
“The United States quite plainly says that the military confrontation is inevitable, however, everyone understands the catastrophic consequences of such recklessness,” said Mr. Lavrov said, referring to Trump’s declarations.
On this matter, Mr. Lavrov said that his country and China have both agreed to support a negotiation between North Korea and South Korea to solve the issue.
Lavrov also criticized the suggestion made at the White House to rewrite the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated with Iran. The deal, which was promoted by Obama, aims to establish restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programs in exchange for the lift of sanctions on this country.
“We will not support what the United States is trying to do, changing the wording of the agreement, incorporating things that will be absolutely unacceptable for Iran,” Lavrov said.
The United States has pursued an anti-Russian agenda to avoid Russia’s development
As part of America’s belief that they can still rule the world, Lavrov said that Washington has continued to push an anti-Russian agenda, despite the intentions of the Kremlin to rebuild the relations with the new administration. He noted that the anti-Russia agenda adopted by the U.S is part of their attempt to hinder the emergence of Russia as a global power.
He mentioned the sanctions imposed by Washington on Russia’s energy sector and the military industry, which were a response of the United States – and also from the European Union – to the Kremlin’s illegal annexation of Crimea back in 2014. However, according to Lavrov, these sections aim to avoid Russia’s growth while he highlighted that Crimea had a legitimate referendum in March 2014, where they voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
He also accused the United States of attempting to persuade the European Union not to build a proposed gas pipeline that diverts Russian gas from the pipes that go all over Ukraine.
He said that the attempts of the United States to punish Russia go beyond. For example, he said that Washington required Kremlin-owned media outlets such as RT and Sputnik to register as foreign agents in that country.
Regarding the relations between the two countries, Lavrov also added that Russia had been sanctioned for a presumptive campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential elections that were won by Donald Trump. Mr. Lavrov denied those accusations again.
Source: Los Angeles Times