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US unlikely to abide by collective decisions under Biden, says Lavrov

The Russian top diplomat also pointed to the United States’ position within the World Trade Organization (WTO)

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The United States won’t be willing to abide by collective decisions after Joe Biden takes office as president even if Washington rejoins organizations and agreements it left under Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a video conference meeting with participants in the Dialogue in the Name of the Future event, hosted by the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund on Friday.

He emphasized that the US had withdrawn from UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Paris Climate Agreement. "Some say that the new US administration will be more inclined to return to international institutions but the current trend shows that even if the US rejoins some international organizations, the signal is clear that it is unwilling to abide by collective decisions that don’t fully reflect US interests, and such decisions are impossible to make," Lavrov added.

The Russian top diplomat also pointed to the United States’ position within the World Trade Organization (WTO). "The WTO Dispute Settlement Body has been non-operational for years for one simple reason: a quorum is required in order to make it efficient and the US keeps blocking efforts to form a quorum. And since the mechanism is inefficient, it is impossible to consider grievances against the US that the EU and other countries file with the WTO," Lavrov stressed.

According to him, such actions create chaos in global trade and those who control key financial tools such as the dollar and the SWIFT system seek to take advantage of it.