PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, September 11. /TASS/. The West is trying to eliminate strong competitors such as Russia and China with sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"The fear of competition governs everything the West undertakes. Sanctions, for example, are a clear attempt to remove strong competitors, and not just Russia and China," the minister said.

According to him, "the United States is pursuing the same goal, dragging Europe into its sanctions games." "Europeans suffer far more from these constraints than Americans," Lavrov said.