Speaking on a visit to Tajikistan on Monday, Lavrov stated that Russia’s diplomatic corps is increasing its global engagement after a period of disarray that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Over the last couple of years, we have been returning to Africa [and] Latin America. A determination has accumulated never to accept the ‘rules’ that Washington is imposing. Its role is diminishing, slowly but surely. An increasing number of nations are disillusioned with it,” Lavrov insisted.
The US-backed ‘rules-based order’ is prone to inconsistency whenever any nation attempts to determine its own policies, Lavrov said. He added that Russia is “at the very forefront” of resisting Western pressure, despite the US and its “subjugated” allies targeting Moscow with sanctions and attempting to isolate it. In practice, they have failed to separate Russia from the international community, the diplomat argued.
Lavrov said that US foreign policy was aimed at destabilizing certain parts of the world, so that Washington could “fish in the troubled water” under the guise of fighting terrorism and offering security. This is among the ways Washington coerces others into accepting its orders, the Russian foreign minister added.
Lavrov made the comments as he addressed Russian troops stationed at a military base in Dushanbe. The site is one of a handful of military facilities that Moscow operates on foreign soil. The diplomat said that whether dressed in suits or bearing guns, people were serving Russia “each in our own place” as they oppose Western machinations.