Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov opened his remarks to the UN General Assembly debate on Sept. 24 that, “We are meeting at a both challenging and dramatic moment. Crisis situations are growing, and the international security situation is deteriorating rapidly.
“Instead of engaging in honest dialogue and searching for compromises, we must deal with misinformation, as well as coarsely staged incidents and provocations….
“The future world order is being decided today, as any unbiased observer can clearly see. The question is whether this world order will have a single hegemon that forces everyone else to live by its infamous rules, which only benefit this hegemon and no one else. Or whether this will be a democratic and just world free from blackmail and intimidation against the unwanted, as well as free from neo-Nazism and neo-colonialism. Russia firmly opts for the second option. Together with our allies, partners, and like-minded countries, we call for efforts to make this a reality.”
He underscored that although the “unipolar global development model” has ruled the world for centuries, relying upon the resources largely from Asia and Africa, more and more sovereign nations are standing up to this policy, and are developing a multipolar alternative.
Lavrov continued: “Having declared itself victorious in the Cold War at some point in the past, Washington elevated itself almost to the rank of the messenger of the Lord God on Earth, endowed with no obligations, but only sacred rights to act with impunity wherever it wants.” He mentioned Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya as examples. “Were the West’s legitimate interests at stake in any one of these countries?” he asked, challenging his colleagues to “name a country where life has changed for the better following Washington’s forceful intervention.”
