Western countries are trying to take advantage of the pandemic to "punish undesirable governments," not responding to calls to at least temporarily lift some of the sanctions that complicate the epidemic situation in the relevant states. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS.
Russia in 2020, the Foreign Minister noted, helped the countries affected by the pandemic - both in bilateral formats and through multilateral structures - and is ready for further cooperation to overcome the consequences of a common disaster. "This, by the way, is our difference from a number of Western states, which not only try to politicize the purely humanitarian issues of fighting coronavirus infection but also use the pandemic to punish undesirable governments, ignoring the UN calls to at least temporarily cancel some unilateral restrictions that complicate the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the relevant countries," Lavrov said.
"In this regard, it seems logical that despite the difficult situation in the past year we have managed to develop and build up friendly cooperation with the overwhelming majority of the world states on a wide range of issues. Among them are our allies, like-minded people and partners in the CSTO, EEU, CIS, BRICS and SCO," the minister added.
At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Russia's strength lies in its peace-loving, predictable foreign policy and readiness to work with all partners in a mutually respectful manner. "We do not play zero-sum geopolitical games, we do not think in archaic concepts of spheres of influence. On the contrary, in practice we realize the thesis that large-scale transboundary problems can be effectively solved only by uniting on the principles of solidarity," he added.
"Russia remains open for a dialogue with Western colleagues, provided they refuse from "mentorship and policy of blackmail and ultimatums," said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. "This will benefit our relations with them, as well as international security and stability in general," Lavrov concluded.
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