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West punishes countries that dare to pursue independent policies — Russian diplomat

Russian Permanent Representative to the Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov pointed out that certain Western countries widely use the notorious and harmful practice of introducing unilateral coercive measures

GENEVA, December 5. /TASS/. Western countries resort to unilateral coercive measures to punish other countries that dare pursuing independent foreign and domestic policies, Russian Permanent Representative to the Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov said.

According to him, certain Western countries in order to achieve their objectives "widely use the notorious and harmful practice of introducing unilateral coercive measures (UCM) against sovereign states that have the political will and courage to pursue their own independent foreign and domestic policies."

"Our experience shows that Western countries use UCM primarily as a mechanism for collective punishment of citizens of the aforementioned states," Gatilov continued.

The Russian diplomat pointed out that the use of these measures is "a malevolent approach that can lead to significant economic, political and reputational losses for those introducing them."

Gatilov also stressed that the most productive path towards the solution of numerous present-day issues regarding the international relations is "a mutually respectful political and diplomatic dialogue based on the principles of international law."