MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The collective West should refrain from the unilateral use of force and attempts to sideline the United Nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at an international meeting of high representatives for security issues on Wednesday.

"To reduce international tensions, we are calling on Washington and Brussels to refrain from using force unilaterally and making attempts to sideline the United Nations to establish restricted groups outside its scope that have no legitimacy as they claim dominance over the rest of the world," he emphasized.

The top Russian diplomat diagnosed the West as unwilling "to readjust their foreign policy thinking to align with the principles of international law, collective leadership, equality and mutual respect of interests" at a time when, he said, renewing the architecture of global security is taking center stage. He urged efforts to establish regional and interregional security mechanisms that would not be controlled by Washington and its allies by forming "a coordinated space for pragmatic cooperation and stable growth."

"There is a demand for deepening diverse ties between associations active across Greater Eurasia," Lavrov concluded. He referred to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).