Russian Foreign Ministry: the West in the international arena is trying to “act according to concepts”

Sergei Lavrov pointed to the stubbornness with which the West is introducing its “rules”.

According to TASS, an article by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, published on Monday in the Kommersant newspaper and the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, says that the persistence and stubbornness with which the West is implementing its “rules” is striking.

“The persistence, even the stubbornness with which the West is introducing its “rules”, – stressed the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“It is clear that there are internal political considerations, it is necessary to show the voters the “toughness” in foreign policy in relation to the “authoritarian opponents” on the eve of the next electoral cycles (in the United States they are every two years, so just be in time”. 

Lavrov pointed out that “rule-based order” is the embodiment of double standards.

“When it is profitable, the right of peoples to self-determination is recognized as an absolute “rule”. In this series – the Malvinas, 12 thousand km from Great Britain, the remote former colonial possessions that no one is going to liberate, which remain in Paris and London despite many decisions of the UN and the International Court of Justice, as well as the “independent” Kosovo – in violation of the UN Security Council resolution”, – he explained.

“When the principle of self-determination contradicts the geopolitical interests of the West – as in the case of the free expression of the will of the inhabitants of Crimea in favor of a common fate with Russia – they forget about it and angrily condemn people’s free choice, punish them with sanctions”.

The use by Western countries of their rules in place of the existing instruments of international law shows that they are striving to “act according to concepts” on the world stage.

“The beauty of Western “rules” is precisely in the absence of specifics: as soon as someone acts against the will of the West, he instantly unfoundedly declares “breaking the rules” (he will not present facts) and declares his“ right to punish the violator”. That is, the less specifics, the more hands are untied for arbitrariness in the interests of deterring competitors by unscrupulous methods. In Russia, the “dashing” 1990s, it was called “acting according to concepts”, –  the article says.

Lavrov emphasized that the West is carefully avoiding both deciphering its rules and the question of why they are needed in the presence of thousands of instruments of international law, “to which everyone has signed and which contain clear obligations of states and transparent mechanisms for verifying their implementation”.