UNITED NATIONS, September 23. /TASS/. The US and its allies should abandon attempts to artificially contain the redistribution of voting quotas at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"In general, there is a need to reform the existing architecture of global management as it no longer meets the demands of the times. The US and its allies should abandon attempts to artificially contain the redistribution of voting quotas at the IMF and the World Bank, recognizing the real economic and financial weight of the countries of the Global South. There is also a need to immediately unblock the work of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body," the top Russian diplomat noted.

Lavrov also pointed to increasingly aggressive attempts by Western countries to preserve their dominance in the global economy although it would be in everyone’s interest to prevent the world from fracturing into isolated trade blocs. "However, if the US and its allies are unwilling to make agreements on making globalization processes fair and equitable, then others will have to draw conclusions and think about the steps that would help them avoid tying the prospects of their social, economic and technological development to the neocolonial instincts of former mother countries," the Russian foreign minister added.