Western nations impose sanctions on countries that don?t fall in line, Russian FM claims

The US is attempting to punish Russia and China through sanctions, provocations, and media campaigns, because they are acting independently and not doing what the West dictates, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the State Duma, the country's parliament, Lavrov accused the "US-led Westerners" of seeking to secure a unilateral advantage by ignoring the interests of other nations, and sanctioning them when they don't fall in line.

"Dissenters who pursue independent policies, primarily our country and China, are punished by the West with all kinds of rogue tools like sanctions of various kinds, demonization in the media, provocations by special services, and many other ways," he said.

According to Lavrov, Washington and other Western capitals are trying to impose their own vision of the world on other countries, calling it a "rules-based order."

"Under this concept, the West claims the right to develop rules in various areas, completely ignoring the principle of genuine, universal multilateralism, which is embodied in the UN, and therefore undermining international law," the Russian foreign minister said.

This isn't the first time that Lavrov has slammed Western nations for what he sees as an attempt to cause an imbalance in the architecture of global governance, and he has previously accused some countries of illegally using force and unilaterally imposing sanctions "without the approval by the UN Security Council."

Last year, the Russian foreign minister suggested that the UN, in its current form, has "excessive representation of the West," proposing that more countries be invited to the Security Council. As things stand, it is made up of 15 countries, including five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are no permanent representatives from Africa, southern Asia, or South America.

According to Lavrov, the current rules allow the West to "lay down the law" around the world.

(RT.com)