Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov keynoted a roundtable discussion of foreign ambassadors in Moscow on June 23. While the discussion was focused on the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov leveled a major attack against the Western “sense of superiority” which he claimed is the real cause underlying it. However, it is not limited to Ukraine, he said: “The US, the UK, and Europe are striving for total global dominance so that no one can prevent them from continuing to extract resources around the world and live at the expense of others.”
He named Venezuela and Iran, including President Donald Trump’s threat to seize the Strait of Hormuz if negotiations fail. “This explains Washington’s declared objective of taking control of global energy markets,” he said. Notably, Lavrov frequently lumped the United States in with “revanchist” European leaders who are driving the war in Ukraine—a subtly different tone than Russia had taken earlier in the Trump administration.
He continued on the theme that the West is seeking control over energy and transport routes, as well as national policies, naming Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Africa. This trend is even spreading to East Asia and the Pacific, he continued, noting that “NATO is already claiming that… the alliance has the right to govern the entire Eurasian continent”—all with “a proclaimed goal of deterring China and Russia.”
Lavrov said that Russia is countering this with a “concept of pan-continental security and cooperation architecture—an architecture open to all Eurasian countries without exception.” This was discussed at the recent Russia-ASEAN summit in Kazan, he added. “Which position will eventually prevail—submission to one center or collective work and forming a balance of interests—is something that, without exaggeration, the future of the world order depends on. Russia and its partners… decisively choose dialogue while being faithful to the principles of the UN Charter that were developed following the crushing defeat of Nazism and militarism in World War II… The global majority must realize its responsibility in this matter, protect the UN Charter and prevent attempts to stop the objective historical process of forming a just multipolar world order.”
