The world is now experiencing a moment of truth, deciding whether humanity will live on the basis of the UN Charter or put up with a separate party's diktat with a group of satellites, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at a press conference following talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
"I believe that this kind of conversation cannot be attempted to be put off and postponed. We are now at a stage in international relations when the moment of truth arrives: either we all accept that someone alone with a group of his satellites decides how mankind will live, or mankind will live on the basis of the UN Charter. Actually, here is a very simple choice," said the head of the Russian MFA.
He stressed that UN Security Council resolutions "must be sacred" for the organization's secretariat, especially those adopted by consensus. In particular, the Minsk Package of Measures was approved by consensus in the Council in 2015. "I do not recall that the UN Secretariat has reacted in any way to direct, blatant sabotage of the Minsk agreements by Kiev," Lavrov pointed out and added that he had discussed the issue with Guterres.
At the same time, he drew attention to the UN General Assembly resolution adopted on March 2 condemning Russia's operation in Ukraine. The minister recalled that several dozen countries refused to support the document. "Many countries complained to us later that they were literally forced, caught ambassadors on the sidelines of the UN, our American friends know how to do it, and directly threatened: some have accounts in America in some bank, some have children in university. I'm not exaggerating. It happened, and we know it," concluded the head of the Russian diplomatic mission.
Contradictions to UN Charter
Attempts to create alternative partnerships and alliances to discuss key international policy issues outside the framework of universal formats under UN auspices contradict the charter of the world organization, the diplomat said. "We talked about the fate of the UN as a whole, about the attempts of our Western colleagues, first of all, to bring the discussion of key issues outside the universal formats under the auspices of the UN and its system, to produce various partnerships, various appeals, which are presented as a club of "front-runners", a club of the selected," he said.
According to the head of the foreign ministry, the initiative of France and Germany to create an alliance of multilateralist is in the same vein. "What is this but competition with the UN?" - he questioned. - "Or the initiative of the United States, which last year held a summit of democracies, where invitations were written out on their own, without consulting anyone, which also, and we have drawn the attention of our interlocutors today, is a dangerous wake-up call for the UN, an attempt to cross out the basic rules of the UN Charter, the basic principle of the UN Charter, namely, that the organization was created on the basis of the sovereign equality of states."
"It is written in the UN Charter, it should be reminded about it, and we will do it more often so that no one in New York or in member states' capitals forgets about it," Lavrov stressed.
Multilateralism is the key term
The minister expressed gratitude to the UN secretary general for the initiative to hold the meeting in Moscow and drew attention to the great importance that Russia attaches to "regular dialogue and comparison of positions with the leadership of the UN secretariat."
With all the difficulties that keep multiplying in world affairs, such frank discussions are very useful in order to return to the roots, to the UN Charter and to build any schemes of multilateralism on the basis of that Charter," he summarized. - Multilateralism is one of the key terms and that is the context in which the conversation was framed today.
Violations of the UN Charter
According to Lavrov, countries that grossly violate the UN Charter should be held accountable and should be held accountable for their actions.
"Nobody wants any wars, God forbid. But it is necessary to present arguments and demand answers from those who violate the UN Charter.
I assure you that more and more countries, especially countries with their history, with their culture and civilizational heritage, want to take exactly this position," the Russian foreign minister said.
"At some point this conversation has to be inevitable. I very much hope that it is the UN with its roots in the Charter - the greatest document of all times and peoples - that will play a catalyzing role in the development of such an honest dialogue without ultimatums, without threats and without attempts to solve problems by force, including financial and economic force, which our Western colleagues have, abusing their position in the world system, I believe, already just limitlessly," the minister said.
The UN Security Council in the course of reform should get rid of its main flaw - the dominance of Western countries, Lavrov said. "We have repeatedly said that the Security Council must get rid of its main defect - the dominance of one group of countries. Of the 15 seats, six belong to Western countries and their allies," he said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS