Foreign Minister Lavrov announced the impossibility of Russia joining NATO
Sergey Lavrov. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry / Reuters
The process of confrontation between Russia and Western countries revolves not around NATO and the European Union (EU), but around the West's unwillingness to have competitors equal to it in terms of influence in the international arena. This was stated by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview on the YouTube channel of the Foreign Ministry.
“I don’t see such a situation [the possibility of Russia joining NATO]. The whole process [of the confrontation] revolves not around NATO or the EU, but about the fact that the West does not want to have any rivals in the international arena comparable in their influence. Hence such a hysteria about the rise of China, which accepted the rules of the game and by which Beijing outplayed the West on its own field, ”the minister said.
Lavrov noted that the struggle in the international arena is not a question of ideology, but only a confrontation for influence. “The form that life and geography can take can be called enmity, rivalry, competition, and if the West went to fair competition, it would be the best way out of the current confrontation, but it would no longer be the West,” the diplomat said.
Lavrov gave an example of the situation with the World Trade Organization (WTO). The minister believes that the West intends to change the rules of global trade for itself in order to counteract the growing economic power of China, which “by 2030 will be the first power in the world in all respects.” The Foreign Minister also recalled the paralysis of the WTO arbitration body through the fault of the United States.
On December 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the United States to stop loosening the supporting structure of world trade. She said the United States is blocking the WTO's appellate body by imposing sanctions that stifle the ability of other trading entities in areas where Washington cannot compete on equal terms.
