MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. The West is perverting the principles of the global market economy, those that it previously championed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during talks with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic.

"The most striking example of the distortion and abuse of all principles of the global market economy, principles the West itself was proactively implementing in international market relations, is the application of unprecedented sanctions against anyone standing for its own independence, defending its right to be part of the global community in full compliance with the principle of equal rights enshrined in the UN Charter," the Russian minister stressed.

This agenda reflects the course taken by the collective West headed by the US to politicize trade and international trade ties, thereby discrediting institutions "that were created after World War II to regulate global processes, meaning the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization," the top Russian diplomat said.

"In this sense, a special meaning is certainly acquired by the collective work on the floor of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions to defend the principles underlying the international system created after World War Two and which the West is obviously disinterested to perform," Lavrov noted.