LAVROV - US wants to convince everyone that it is a hegemon, and that no one can contradict it - SUB

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Sky News Arabia, Moscow, September 20, 2024.
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Question (retranslated from Arabic): I am delighted to meet you at this point in history, considering that over two years have passed since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. Is Moscow still committed to its initial requirements or we can hope to see it soften its line for the benefit of peace?

Sergey Lavrov: It is not so much Russia’s requirements as the requirements of international law. When calls are made for settling the conflict on the principles of the UN Charter, they are invariably complemented with the phrase “based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” However, the phrase about territorial integrity is preceded in the UN Charter by the requirement of respect for the right of nations to self-determination. It is the right to self-determination that guided all decolonisation processes, primarily in Africa. The Soviet Union was among the countries that initiated these processes. It was at our initiative that the relevant Declaration was adopted in 1960.

Discussions on what takes precedence – territorial integrity or the right of nations to self-determination – began at the UN General Assembly in the 20th century. These lengthy discussions led to the adoption of the voluminous Declaration. The part we are talking about now says clearly that all countries must respect the territorial integrity of states whose governments respect the right of nations to self-determination and therefore represent the entire population living in their territory. It is common knowledge that the neo-Nazis who seized power in Ukraine as a result of a state coup in February 2014 did not represent Crimea or Donbass.

Even before addressing the right of nations to self-determination, the UN Charter says that everyone is entitled to all human rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, sex, language or religion. Ukrainian laws prohibit the use of the Russian language in all spheres of life. A recent law has prohibited the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In other words, those who call for settling this conflict on the basis of the UN Charter should read it more carefully.

Question (retranslated from Arabic): The Orange Revolution became the starting point for everything. We realise that Russia now plays an important role in resolving conflicts on the international arena. Is the special military operation an important landmark in transforming the international community and the world order? Is Russia ready for broader hostilities?

Sergey Lavrov: You have said that the coup d’etat was among the main phases that eventually led us towards a situation that we are now witnessing. This coup d’etat was induced and supported by Western countries. After that, we warned for many years that Russian people, who had spent their whole life on territories incorporated into the Ukrainian state during the Soviet period, should not be treated this way. For centuries, Russian people developed this territory, and this territory should by no means be dragged into NATO. We warned about this for a long time. But, after nurturing, bringing up and raising neo-Nazis, the West unequivocally continued to support them as a tool of a war against the Russian Federation.

It is obvious for everyone, who understands what is going on and who knows what justice is about, that justice is on our side. Justice implies that every person has the right to retain their identity, based on the way they were brought up and on their own desires. The Global Majority, African, Asian and Latin American countries, became apprehensive after the West started using the neo-Nazi Ukrainian regime as a tool for fighting against Russia. Everyone started wondering, on whom Washington would vent its discontent next time, and whom it might dislike. Well, it can dislike anybody.

In this sense, you are absolutely right. The special military operation has worldwide significance because it upholds a multipolar world order where all countries without exception are equal. I would like to recall the UN Charter once again. It states expressly that the UN is based on the sovereign equality of states. The United States and its satellites never respect and honour this principle. The Global Majority is interested in ending the current state of things when the Americans demand that everyone respect a rules-based order, rather than international law. And their rules always depend on God’s whim, as we say here.

When it became necessary for them to deprive Serbia of Kosovo, they proclaimed its independence without any referendum. They said that the people of Kosovo were exercising their right to self-determination. Several years later, after the Nazis seized power in Kiev, the people of Crimea held a referendum and opted for reunification with Russia, with numerous international observers monitoring the event. The Americans denounced this act and said it violated territorial integrity.

The majority of the people from Africa, Asia and Latin America I communicate with, know what this is all about. The United States wants to convince everyone that it is a hegemon, and that no one can contradict it, no matter what they are doing. Consequently, the United States is saying that it is necessary to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia on the battlefield. They see this as an existential threat for themselves, a threat to their hegemony. If the truth prevails (and it will certainly prevail), they would see this situation as their own defeat highlighting the loss of their reputation, authority and prestige. Additionally, many would stop fearing them.

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