New Delhi: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed NATO for attempting to create problems between India and China ties, adding that it is clear that they are attempting to make overtures to India to create additional problems in its relations with China. During a press briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian FM said, "NATO is not limited to organising life on the European continent. In June 2022, NATO’s Madrid Summit declared that the military bloc had a global commitment, specifically about the Asia-Pacific region, which they call the Indo-Pacific region".
"They are attempting to make overtures to India to create additional problems in its relations with China. Their battle cry is the indivisibility of security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. Mere wordplay. Since the 1990s, the same commitment to the principle of indivisibility of security was declared by the OSCE and Russia-NATO Council", he said.
He noted that this term was used to mean equal security for every state and an obligation not to strengthen one’s security at the expense of another’s. Now it has been taken out of context and given a new meaning, the indivisibility of interests of NATO and the Indo-Pacific region. The difference is obvious. Slamming NATO on Indo-Pacific, Lavrov said, "In the so-called 'Indo-Pacific region,' the West is out to create bloc architecture against Russia and China. With this aim in view, they have consistently been destroying (although they prefer to keep quiet about this) the decades-old mechanisms and formats of cooperation created around ASEAN based on equality, consensus, and a balance of interests".
"Instead, they are putting together military blocs. A shining case in point is AUKUS, an Anglo-Saxon bloc in Asia, which includes the US, the UK and Australia. Japan is under pressure to join it as well. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s recent visit to Washington ended up confirming this course. Japan is militarising again. As I understand it, Japan is bracing to alter the articles in its constitution that prevent it from doing this. The process is underway", Lavrov said.
Blaming the West, Lavrov said that Washington’s policy of dictating in international affairs means precisely that the Americans can do anything anywhere they want, even at the other end of the earth. "They do what they think is necessary. All other countries cannot do anything without the US’s approval, even in response to direct security threats the US creates on their borders", said the Russian FM. He said, "Western politicians not only from the Baltics and Poland, but also from more reasonable countries say that Russia must be dealt a strategic defeat. Some political analysts write about decolonising Russia, that our country is, too big, and “gets in the way.”
"The Western politicians are talking only about sanctions. Ursula von der Leyen has recently said in Davos that new sanctions will be imposed on Russia and Belarus, that they know which sanctions to adopt to strangle the Russian economy and cause it decades of regression. This is what they want", he told the media persons during the briefing.
"They have shown their true colors. For many years, UN Security Council members discussed sanctions against countries that violated international law or their obligations", stated the Russian FM, adding, "And every time the Western countries that initiated such measures promised that the sanctions would not harm the people but would be targeted at the “regime.” What became of their promises?
He further reiterated that countries are developing economically. Look at China and India (our strategic partners), Türkiye, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt and many African countries. Considering their immense natural resources, their development potential is enormous. Taking a dig, Lavrov said, "New centres of economic growth are emerging. The West is trying to prevent this, in part, by exploiting the mechanisms created to serve its interests within the globalisation framework it created".
"The role of the dollar as a reserve currency is very important in this respect. This is why in our contacts through the SCO, BRICS, the CIS, and the EAEU, and in our cooperation with associations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we are doing all we can to create new forms of interaction to avoid dependence on the West and its neocolonialist methods (that are now clear)".
Pointing out that President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke about this frankly and clearly, Lavrov said, "These methods are used with the express purpose of robbing the rest of the world in these new conditions. In dealing with our reliable partners and friendly countries, we are developing forms of cooperation that will benefit all of us. Those who want to subdue the entire world have no say in it".
What is happening in Ukraine now is the result of preparations by the US and its satellites for the start of a global hybrid war against the Russian Federation. Nobody is hiding this fact. This is clear from statements by unbiased Western philologists, scientists, and politicians, he said. In a strongly worded statement, he said, "Our Western partners are cunning while vehemently trying to prove that they are not fighting Russia but are only helping Ukraine respond to an “aggression” and restore its territorial integrity. The scale of their support makes it clear that the West has staked a great deal on its war against Russia, this is obvious".
