MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. The intention of Western countries to resolve global issues within a private circle without inviting Russia and China is baffling, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova noted in a statement Saturday following a special online session of the Munich Security Conference held on Friday.
"Considering that the announced agenda had such global items as ‘Priorities for Global Action,’ ‘Fighting the Pandemic’ and ‘Tackling the Climate Crisis,’ the list of participants is at the very least puzzling," she underlined. "Essentially, the problems faced by the whole humanity are planned to be discussed in a very narrowed format. The organizers invited the US and EU leadership as well as the UN secretary general and the WHO director general to join the discussion. There was no mention of inviting other countries, including Russia and China. On the contrary, they were viewed by the discussions as threats and opponents who need to be countered."
"We once again are forced to note the trend of the past few years when our Western partners seek to resolve issues in a narrow circle and advance decisions that they are comfortable with, which will later be imposed on other members of the international community through the prism of the ‘rule-based world order’," she added.
Zakharova emphasized that Russia does not share this approach and urges broader international cooperation on a common agenda in the framework of the universal democratic agencies of the UN.