A number of African and Latin American countries complain they are "fed up" with the West demanding to join sanctions against Russia in exchange for promising "not to punish them," said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with Tsargrad TV . Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this in an interview with Tsargrad TV, which was published Wednesday on the diplomatic mission's website.
"[Western countries] threaten directly and punish. I asked some of my friends from Africa, Latin America, who complain that the West is just 'bugging' them ordering them to join the sanctions, telling them what they will get in return economically, financially. If you join the sanctions, you lose. In exchange, they promise not to punish them. That's all the 'diplomacy' we started today's conversation with," Lavrov said.
'Center of the earth'
According to the Russian foreign minister, "the statement that the West has 'isolated' Russia says only one thing: the West considers itself 'the center of the earth'. " It is the only explanation for its current policy," the minister added.
"Attempts of the West to force the countries of the Global South, the global majority, as we call them now, to join the anti-Russian sanctions have been stumbled by the desire of the overwhelming majority of developing countries to build their policies based on national interests, the needs of their economy and social objectives," he added.
Lavrov pointed out that the Western policy is failing. "Yes, they [Western countries] refer to the results of UN votes on the provocative resolutions, that are drafted in a Jesuit way, inserting the highest possible number of generally recognized statements there, but somewhere between the lines embedding clearly anti-Russian passages. As in this joke: 'It's cheaper to agree than to explain why I won't do it'," Lavrov pointed out. - "They [the countries of the Global South] voted, but did not join the sanctions. Just to be left alone. If you are right, you will not use sanctions to blackmail, threaten, and punish others directly into agreeing with you. Never has it ever even occurred to those who are certain they are right. But the West is not certain." He added that if Western countries are "big democrats," they should let other states "make their own decisions."
Lavrov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin explained in detail why Russia launched the special military operation, where it comes from: from the coup d'etat, from the refusal to implement the Minsk agreements, the continuing hostilities against Donbass, against civilians, peaceful citizens, for eight years. "[Russian President Vladimir Putin] showed that we had no other choice. Some may disagree. The West did not agree. The others can decide for themselves: who is right, who is wrong and what position to take - 'white', 'red' or be neutral. But they are not allowed to do so. They are constantly being pressed to join something anti-Russian, and they are dictated to do so every day. Those who know they are right wouldn't behave this way," stressed the head of the foreign minister.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS