MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Western countries have been overt in their goal to destabilize Russia ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"The malicious practices of interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign nations have been ongoing," Russia’s top diplomat said, addressing a meeting of the ruling United Russia party’s commission for international cooperation and support of compatriots abroad. The West has been "overt in its goal to destabilize our country, especially ahead of the presidential election slated for next year," he added.
According to Lavrov, the US-led collective West has been waging a hybrid war on Russia. "The Kiev regime is being used as a tool, while Nazi activists in Ukraine are being supplied with modern weapons and ammunition, and [foreign] instructors and mercenaries are being sent there," he lamented. Among the goals being openly pursued by Russia’s adversaries, Lavrov said, are defeating the Russian Army on battlefield, disrupting Russia’s political and economic sovereignty, and edging it to the periphery of global politics.
"This policy also fits into the joint efforts by Washington and Brussels to maintain global dominance by trying to punish everyone who pursues an independent foreign policy and rejects the notorious rule-based order. The Americans do not hide their intention to do all they can to contain China, too," Lavrov concluded.