Russia’s Lavrov says US discarding international conventions, pursuing its own interests
April 24 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States of abandoning internationally accepted diplomatic agreements in favor of its own interests, especially domination of energy markets, in an interview published on Friday.
Interviewed by Russian state television, Lavrov said Washington’s relations with Latin America and the Middle East were taking us back to a world where nothing existed in international law.
“The United States has officially declared that no one can dictate to it,” he said in the interview, the text of which was published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
“He only cares about his own well-being and is ready to defend that well-being by any means – coups, kidnappings, or assassinations of leaders of countries that have the natural resources Americans need.
“Venezuela, Iran and our American colleagues do not hide that this is about oil. They have doctrines of dominance in global energy markets.”
Lavrov was referring to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation in January and the killing of Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February.
Lavrov said the United States had “disconnected” Europe, called on European states to abandon the now-damaged Nord Stream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany, and supported calls by the European Union to deter Hungary and Slovakia from buying Russian gas.
“This is not an approach to international relations. This is an attempt to return to the colonial era,” Lavrov said, denouncing European policy as driven by “arrogance and disdain for others.”
He said the United States promoted the benefits of “huge economic opportunities” even as it sought a solution to the four-year war in Ukraine.
“At the same time, everything I just described is happening in parallel. We are being pushed out of all global energy markets,” he said.
“If we are ready to carry out mutually beneficial projects on our own territory and provide the Americans with what interests them… then our interests must also be respected. So far we cannot see this.”
(Reporting by ReutersEditing: Rod Nickel)
