Lavrov Article Addresses the ‘Historic Geopolitical Shifts’ Underway

March 25, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov submitted an article to a new Russian publication called Razvedchik (Intelligence Officer) this week in which he describes how the world is abandoning the Anglo-American unipolar world order in favor of a world of multipolarity, in which a growing number of countries “have an independent foreign policy, which prioritizes their core national interests.” Lavrov writes: “We live at a time of historic geopolitical shifts. ...This puts in place objective factors for the emergence of a new multipolar world order—a more resilient, just, and democratic framework reflecting the natural and inalienable right of every nation to determine its future, as well as choose its own internal and socioeconomic development models.”

Rather than accepting this shift,

“the U.S.-led so-called collective West is doing everything to revive the unipolar model, which has run its course. They want to force the world to live in a Western-centric rules-based order that they invented themselves, while seeking to punish those who disagree with these rules, even if no one has ever seen them and they are nowhere to be found.”

After describing how Washington and Brussels (he should have also included London) are trying to turn everything, including international organizations such as the OSCE, against Russia, Lavrov reports that, “Today, our relations with the United States and the EU are at the lowest ebb since the end of bipolar confrontation.” The West’s goal in Ukraine “is to defeat us on the battlefield, destroy the Russian economy and undermine our internal political stability.”

“We have drawn the necessary conclusions from this. There will be no ‘business as usual’ again. We will not knock on the closed door, let alone make unilateral concessions. If the West comes to its senses and offers a resumption of contacts, we will see what exactly they offer and will act based on Russia’s interests. Any hypothetical agreements with the West must be legally binding and must include a streamlined mechanism of their verification,”

Lavrov continues.

“To tell the truth, we no longer have any illusions about converging with Europe, being accepted as part of the ‘common European home,’ or creating a ‘common space’ with the EU. All these declarations made in European capitals have turned out to be a myth and a false-flag operation. The latest developments have clearly shown that the ramified network of mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment ties between Russia and the EU were not a safety net.”

In response to that reality, Lavrov writes:

“Russian diplomacy is implementing an independent, self-sufficient and multi-directional foreign policy and is building up its efforts across the world. We are boosting our strategic partnership with China, which is a balancing factor in international affairs. The current relations between Moscow and Beijing are the best in our history. We are working consistently to bolster relations of privileged strategic partnership with India and strengthening ties with Brazil, Iran, the U.A.E., Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and many other friendly states. The second Russia-Africa Summit, which is scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg in July 2023, will enhance relations between Russia and Africa.”