New York, 25 September 2023 (TDI): The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov addressed the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 23, in New York.
The Russian Foreign Minister centered his speech on condemning the approach utilized by the West towards Russia against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis.
In speaking about the West, the Russian Foreign Minister stated that power was slipping through the hands of the old order, dominated by Washington, which has long rejected the principle of equality.
Moreover, he stressed that Americans and Europeans make all sorts of promises and then don’t fulfill them.
He also quoted President Vladimir Putin’s statement calling the West “an empire of lies”.
The Foreign Minister also criticized NATO, by calling out that the political assurances given to the Soviet Union and then the Russian leaders regarding the non-expansion of the NATO military alliance to the East were all pure deception.
He continued to state that Washington and Brussels have ceaselessly sought to expand their interests and alliances to subordinate the Global South and East, rejecting Russia’s desire for mutual security guarantees.
In moving to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, he further condemned the West by stressing that the West had continued its ongoing militarization of the Russophobic Kyiv regime.
In reflecting upon the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine, the Foreign Minister stated that the West brought Ukraine to power through a bloody coup in 2014 and took that as an opportunity to wage a hybrid war against our country.
He added that since then the aim of the West has been the strategic defeat of Russia, with the US-led offensive now stretching into outer space and disinformation online.
In further arguing with the West, the Foreign Minister emphasized that its creation of subordinate alliances was targeted against Russia and China in a bid to sabotage more inclusive regional forums.
He continued to explicate that in terms of culture, the anti-colonial global majority has had enough of the Western yoke and attacks on their religions, traditional values, and sovereignty.
He called Russia and China as defenders of a new multipolar world order and now the West is doing all it can to block it.
In moving to the US specifically, the Russian Foreign Minister condemned the US-led use of unilateral sanctions and coercive measures, defending Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, and others, while Washington continues its effort to Ukrainize the international agenda.
He stressed that it is the urge of the time to fully reform the global governance architecture, including UN-led international financial mechanisms and the United Nations’ key bodies.
Also read: Russia denounces Western weapons supply to Ukraine
In this regard, he stated that the UN Secretariat was biased in favor of capitals in NATO and the European Union. Moreover, he advocated for the expansion of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to include Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
In this course, he stated that the reformation of the UNSC needed a new and balanced consensus as was seen in the example of the BRICS bloc of economic powers that was set to expand beyond Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Lastly, in his address at UNGA, he highlighted that humanity is at a crossroads and urged to make efforts to prevent it from falling into large-scale war.
He appealed to the UN Secretary-General to call for the world leaders to meet and negotiate in the spirit of compromise at this year’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) to design a common future for the common good.
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