ST. PETERSBURG, June 30. /TASS/. Some countries are attempting to replace international norms with their national jurisdiction and diktat-based law, intentionally rejecting basic legal principles, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
The head of state told the participants of the 10th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that the system of international law undoubtedly needs to be developed yet one shouldn’t confuse cause and effect. Crises "are born not out of flaws allegedly inherent in the law," he asserted.
"The real reason is different - it’s the attempts to replace the law with diktat and international norms - with the national jurisdiction of certain countries or groups of countries, and intentionally refusing to follow the essential legal principles of justice, conscientiousness, equality and humanism," the Russian leader noted. However, he noted, those are not just legal formulas but values that reflect the entire diversity of modern-day civilization.
Putin noted that some states are not ready to accept the loss of their global domination and strive to cling to the unfair unipolar model. "Under the guise of the so-called rules-based order and other dubious concepts they try to control and direct global processes at their whim, unwaveringly steering towards the creation of closed blocs and coalitions, while making decisions profiting only one country - the United States of America," he explained.
The natural rights of other international players are being ignored, the fundamental principle of the indivisibility of security is being interpreted selectively, while the Western-imposed unilateral sanctions against sovereign states have reached an unprecedented scope.
"I will add that those countries that advocate their own exclusiveness overstep the law in their domestic policy as well, turning a blind eye to the inviolability of property and freedom of speech. In short, the domination of one country or a group of countries on the global stage is not only unproductive but is also dangerous and inevitably produces large-scale systemic risks," the Russian president cautioned.
He stressed that the multipolar world of the 21st century has no place for inequality, nor discrimination of states and peoples. "This is why our country supports the practical implementation of the essential international legal principle of the sovereign equality of states and everyone’s right to their own development model," Putin emphasized.
He noted that Russia’s agenda in international affairs has always been and remains constructive. Moscow is fostering multipolar relations with everyone interested and places great importance on cooperation in the UN, the G20, BRICS, the SCO and other organizations.