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West using pressure to retain eroding dominance: Russia

Friday, 12 April 2019 6:23 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 12 April 2019 6:39 PM ]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (photo by AFP)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Western countries, led by the United States, use “blackmail and pressure” in an attempt to keep dominion over other countries as Western-style liberalism loses appeal and new powers emerge.

“The Western liberal model of development, which particularly stipulates a partial loss of national sovereignty… is losing its attractiveness,” Lavrov said at his annual meeting with students and professors at the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy, Russia’s TASS news agency reported on Friday.

Citing major GDP growth in certain Asian Pacific countries, Lavrov further pointed to the formation of “new centers of power” at a time when the liberal model was “no more viewed as a perfect model for all.”

The Russian foreign minister added that the emerging multipolar order required that diplomacy be given a “leading role” to “maintain global stability and search for a balance of interests and compromises.”

Lavrov denounced what he described as reluctance by “Western partners, led by the United States” to reach common approaches for shared issues due to a “clear desire to preserve their centuries-long dominance in global affairs.”

“In order to preserve their dominance and recover their indisputable authority, they use blackmail and pressure. They don’t hesitate to blatantly interfere in the affairs of sovereign states,” he said.

The US and Russia, formerly the world’s only superpowers, competed for global influence between 1945 and 1991, in what is known as the Cold War era. Since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, America has sought to present itself as the leader of the globe. This is while Russia has reemerged as a global influence and other countries — prompted by rising economic and political power — also lay claims to power.

Under various administrations, the US has used its economic, political, military, and intelligence power to undermine certain governments in other countries and prop up others. Russia, on the other hand, has stressed non-interference in the domestic affairs of other states.

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