The actions of the West in the international arena have led to a weakening of the global legal system, as well as increased instability and increased mistrust between countries. This was written by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his article “The World at the Crossroads and the System of International Relations of the Future” for the magazine “Russia in Global Affairs”. It is timed to the opening of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

In particular, the minister draws attention to the actions of the American administration. Among them is the withdrawal from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), which was supported by other NATO countries. Lavrov noted that this creates risks for "the entire contractual architecture" in the field of nuclear arms control.

“The prospects of the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (DSNV-3) are also unclear due to the lack of a clear response from the American side to our proposal to agree to extend the treaty after its expiration in early 2021,” Lavrov stressed .

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry is also worried about the “soil preparation campaign” going on in the USA for Washington’s complete refusal of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The United States has still not ratified this agreement.

In addition to the risks associated with the nonproliferation system, Lavrov also notes US “revisionism” in relation to other international treaties approved by the UN Security Council - the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan for the Iranian Nuclear Program and the Palestinian-Israeli settlement plan.

Washington also uses the American dollar, which has the status of the main means of payment, for its own purposes, introduces protectionist barriers and sanctions, including against its allies, Lavrov said. The minister also pointed to US attempts to counteract the partnership between Russia and China and other regional interstate associations.

As a result, Lavrov stated, “the international legal foundation was shaken in politics”, “the boundaries between non-violent and force methods of achieving foreign policy goals” were blurred and the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons was reduced, and trade wars began in the economy, the international system weakened trade and the tightening of the struggle for energy.

“Let’s add here a surge in migration processes, deepening ethnic and religious hatred. Do we really need such a "rule-based world order"? ”The minister asks.

  • Migrant Camp in France
  • AFP
  • © FRANCOIS LO PRESTI

"New major players"

At the same time, Lavrov noted the failure of attempts to build a unipolar model of the world order. According to him, some economically strong states are beginning to influence the processes both in their region and at the level of the global space.

“New large players with a stable economic base are striving to more actively influence regional and global processes, with good reason they are claiming more meaningful participation in key decisions. Demand is growing in a fairer and more inclusive system, ”the minister explained.

However, the West is counteracting attempts by other countries to reconsider the prevailing world order, Lavrov said. According to him, these states, while declaring liberalism, democracy and human rights, are actually implementing policies based on "inequality, injustice, selfishness, and conviction of their own exclusiveness."

“By the way,“ liberalism ”, which the West positions itself as a defender, puts at the center of the personality, its rights and freedoms. The question arises: how does the policy of sanctions, economic strangulation and overt military threats against a number of independent countries - Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria - compare with this? Sanctions directly hit ordinary people, according to their well-being, violate their socio-economic rights, ”Lavrov emphasized.

The minister also recalled violations of the rights of Russian-speaking citizens in some countries of the European Union. Also, according to the diplomat, the principle of liberalism is violated by Western sanctions against residents of the Crimea, reunited with Russia in 2014 as a result of a referendum.

“Liberalism, in its healthy, undistorted understanding, has traditionally been an important component of world, including Russian, political thought. However, the multiplicity of development models does not allow us to say that the Western “basket” of liberal values ​​is uncontested, ”said Lavrov.

"It is necessary to keep up to date"

Lavrov stressed that the projects proposed by the West to resolve problems are ineffective. In this regard, he presented the Russian position in the current situation.

“First of all, it is necessary to keep up to date. Recognize the obvious: the process of forming a polycentric architecture of the world order is irreversible, no matter how hard they try to artificially slow it down (and even more so reverse it). Most countries do not want to be held hostage by other people's geopolitical calculations, are set to pursue a nationally oriented domestic and foreign policy, ”the Foreign Minister stressed.

For this, it is necessary that all countries observe the principle of equality of all states, enshrined in the UN Charter, regardless of their legal structure, size or development model, Lavrov warned.

“The situation is paradoxical when states that position themselves as a standard of democracy take care of it only when they demand from certain countries to“ put things in order ”in their homes according to Western patterns. And as soon as it comes to the need for democracy in interstate relations, they immediately evade honest conversation or try to interpret international law at their discretion, ”he added.

  • G20 Summit
  • Reuters
  • © Kazuhiro Nogi / Pool

Lavrov also proposed reforming the UN and, in particular, the Security Council. He recalled that the West was “overrepresented” in the Security Council, while the countries of Asia, Africa or Latin America were deprived of such an opportunity. It is useful to use the potential of the G20, where the international community is most fully represented, the minister emphasized.

“It is obvious that without true collegiality, without a depoliticized partnership with the central coordinating role of the UN, it is impossible to reduce confrontation, build confidence and cope with common challenges and threats,” the head of the foreign ministry said.

“Now the most important thing is to start a strategic dialogue on specific threats and risks and seek agreement on a generally acceptable agenda. As another prominent statesman of our country Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko wisely said, whose 110th birthday we celebrate this year: “Better to negotiate for ten years than one day for war,” Lavrov concluded.