RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEY LAVROV HELD A WIDE-RANGING NEWS CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW, AND SPOKE ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY IN 2024. BELOW IS A SUMMARY OF HIS REMARKS:
“President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about this, convincingly and at length, that we had to begin the special military operation in Ukraine to repel an attack, a war waged against us by the collective West with the main goal of suppressing competition when Russia re-emerged as its strong rival on the international arena.
Their main goal was to weaken our country geopolitically, creating direct military threats to us – not somewhere across the ocean, but right on our borders, on Russia’s native territories toiled by Russians and developed by Russian stars and their associates, in an attempt to slash our strategic potential and devalue it as much as possible.
The second reason also has to do with the history of the region, only it was more about the people who have lived on that land for centuries, developed it from scratch, built cities, factories and ports, than about the land itself. These people were labelled ‘terrorists’ by the current Ukrainian regime, which came to power through an illegal anti-constitutional coup. And when they refused to accept it, that regime launched an all-out offensive against all things Russian, which provided a centuries-old framework for the region where people refused to obey the new Nazis.
After the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union’s dissolution, they have been persisting, as if driven by inertia , with their desire to cast themselves as masters of destinies. This is something that surprises me, while also making me anxious. In fact, every reasonable politician must understand that the situation has radically changed compared to what it was 30 or 35 years ago.
A new reality has already emerged along with strong competitors who want to engage in fair economic, financial and sports competition. However, the West, or at least its present-day elites, proved to be unable to stop following the path of seeking to ensure their total dominance and perorating about what they refer to as the end of history.
I have a strong feeling that the United States does not want to have any competitors anywhere, starting with the energy sector. The United States and its allies have placed sanctions policies at the core of what they do on the international stage, including regarding Russia, but also in other respects. This demonstrates their refusal to engage in fair economic competition and their commitment to using unfair, aggressive practices for suppressing their opponents.”
