MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. The West is taking a different approach to the protests in Georgia and Moldova because the opposition in Moldova doesn’t suit Western interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"The Georgian opposition is not only allowed but obliged to do whatever it wants but in Moldova, protests against the current government are condemned because while the Georgian opposition reflects Western interests, the opposition in Moldova reflects different interests, and Western interests are represented by the government and the president," he pointed out in an interview with Channel One’s "The Great Game" television program.

According to Lavrov, Russia’s neighboring countries should decide for themselves how dangerous it is to get sucked into the US' "sphere of influence." He also noted that when commenting on Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the West openly admits that its hegemony in global affairs was at stake. "When the US and its NATO allies comment on what is going on in Ukraine and our special military operation, they demand that a strategic defeat be inflicted on Russia on the battlefield, openly admitting that it is an existential conflict, the outcome of which will determine the West’s global security interests, and, to put it simply, this is what the future of the US-led West’s hegemony and dominance in global affairs depend on," the Russian top diplomat concluded.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on March 7-8 after lawmakers had passed the first reading of a foreign agent bill. Over 130 people were detained in the two days of protests. The ruling party decided to withdraw the bill on March 9. In February, the country’s parliament registered a Georgian version of the foreign agent bill and a translation of the US foreign agent law. According to the Georgian version, media outlets may be designated as foreign agents but the initiative does not cover individuals. The US version applies to both entities and individuals, and also introduces criminal liability. The initiatives drew strong criticism from both the opposition and Western politicians.