Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters after meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in Moscow yesterday, that the two had spoken about the need to form “a fairer democratic international system,” strongly rejecting “attempts to replace international law with a `rules-based order'.”
The West’s devastating economic sanctions were clearly central to their discussions of the current, outlaw order. Both agreed on the importance of rallying “healthy forces in the UN in order to uphold the UN Charter’s principles and against the policy of imposing illegitimate unilateral coercive measures that the West has been using increasingly often.”
When Arreaza spoke the same day to the Valdai Discussion Club, he recounted Venezuela’s inability to purchase sufficient vaccines because of the illegal international economic sanctions imposed on it. The COVAX facility has refused to release any of the five million vaccine doses allocated to Venezuela under the program, he reported, because Venezuela had not paid their full cost of $119 million. But when Venezuela, which had already paid COVAX $109 million, tried to transfer the remaining $10 million due, a bank —UBS—seized the payment, citing U.S. sanctions.
Arreaza demanded: “Let them return the money and with that money, we will purchase vaccines from Russia, China, Cuba or whomever!” Venezuela finds itself, in the midst of the pandemic, with six billion dollars of its reserves held abroad frozen, and “we have not been able to purchase enough vaccines.” Arreaza thanked China and Russia for selling Venezuela vaccines, reporting that his country has received 1.2 million doses of an agreement with Russia for 10 million, and he expects they will want more.
He added: “If the U.S. wants to do business with Venezuela, it is welcome.” He urged the Biden administration to “rectify” the policy towards Venezuela, lift the illegal sanctions, and return the industry and companies which it has taken from us “by force.”
Arreaza commented that “We know that the person who sits in the Oval Office does not make the decisions in the U.S., but they, and their team also, have some influence.” He expressed hope that they could “reflect” and “return to the legality” of the UN Charter.
