Sep 28, 2014
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Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered a speech during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly on September 27, touching upon such issues as US unilateral use of military power, the West’s unwillingness to cooperate with Russia, the situation in Ukraine and delays in Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight investigation, and access to the data on chemical weapons in Libya, among other things.
“Washington has openly declared its right to use military force unilaterally and wherever it sees fit in order to protect its own interests,” said Lavrov, talking about the policy of the United States. “Western alliance, led by the United States, while defending democracy and human rights, on the global arena assumes an opposite stance, disregarding the principle of the sovereign equality of states, as stipulated in the UN Charter, and trying to decide for others what is good and what is bad.”
The minister also added that it was becoming more apparent that there is a contradiction between the desire of certain countries to dominate and the need of collaborative efforts in the face of common challenges.
He said that the recent US-led military involvement in countries like Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan ended in an unfortunate way for Washington, adding that the goal of operations, aimed at political regime change, is reminiscent of attempts to provoke instability in the world.
Lavrov also noted the evasiveness of Western countries when it came to cooperating with Russia on the establishment of security in certain regions.
“Western partners have ignored our numerous warnings, concerning the inadmissibility of breaking the UN Charter and Helsinki Final Act principles, consistently evaded proper collaboration on creating a zone of equal and undivided security and cooperation in the area from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans,” he said, pointing out the inability of NATO members to alter their “genetic code” which remained unchanged from the times of the Cold War.
The Russian foreign minister went on to suggest the adoption of a declaration that would stipulate the principle of non-recognition of a coup as a means of changing regime in a country and inadmissibility of meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
“The United States and the European Union supported the coup in Ukraine, blindly approved any actions taken by the self-proclaimed Kiev authorities that directed their efforts at violently suppressing the part of the Ukrainian people that rejected the attempts to impose on the country anti-constitutional order and wanted to defend its right to native language, culture and history,” Lavrov said.
The minister emphasized that Russia eagerly supported the restoration of peace in Ukraine, and believed that the resolution to the Ukrainian crisis was attainable.
As for the Malaysian aircraft, the diplomat noted that the thorough investigation into the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine was experiencing delays, which contradicted the UN Security Council Resolution 2166.
On the subject of Libya, Lavrov said that Russia wanted to see the information concerning the state of chemical weapons in Libya, as the issue of uncontrolled Libyan chemical arsenal was extremely serious, whatever feelings NATO might have about it.
The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations. The 69th session opened on September 16, 2014.