MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. The West’s attempts to fabricate its own rules, pass them off as benchmarks and impose them on the entire international community are futile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday following the expanded board meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov stressed that Moscow favors the prevalence of international law. The minister noted that since the signing of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975, our Western partners have continually talked about urging and demanding Moscow to respect international law. "None of our Western colleagues are speaking about this any longer. Everyone says: we call for respect for the rule-based world order," he added.
"In the UN, where everyone is represented, where all views are at the negotiating table, including those that do not coincide with Western ones, it is necessary to negotiate there, it is necessary to seek the same balance of interests there. What the West does is that it gathers in a close circle, takes an issue on the UN agenda, but discusses it and imposes these very rules without any dispute, without any discussion. As you know, controversy served the cause of truth. That’s why attempts to fabricate these rules, disguise them as benchmarks and impose them on others are absolutely futile."
Lavrov stressed that only agreements endorsed by all countries can last. "For some time, it is still possible to "turn a blind eye to" this, forcing countries influenced by the West to sign some appeals and declarations, but this will not have any sustainability, since only agreements reached with the participation of all states will be valid for a long time," the minister said.