ADDIS ABABA, July 27. /TASS/. The United States of America destroys all countries that threaten its political interests as can be seen from the outcome of military operations in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said addressing diplomats accredited in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

"When in the past, our American colleagues felt that there was a threat to their political interests then thousands of kilometers away from the US coast they bombed Yugoslavia in 1999, Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011 and many other countries. Without hesitation, without explanation to anyone, they launched military operations, very frequently under a false pretext, destroying cities, killing thousands of innocent citizens," he noted.

Lavrov pointed out that as a result of US military operations, such cities as Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria were practically wiped off the face of the earth. "I don’t recall that the progressive civilized West in any way raised this issue," he added.

The Russian top diplomat stressed that currently the world is going through "an important historical period when it is necessary to choose" how to live and in what form to leave it to future generations. "Will we live in a world that follows the principles of the UN Charter based on the equality of sovereign states or in a world where the strongest will dominate? Is this really our choice to live in the world of the collective West under the US auspices who will decide when and how to promote its interests?" Lavrov argued.