By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Tuesday of demanding “unquestioning obedience” from allies and threatening multilateralism, prompting the U.S. to pan his remarks in the United Nations Security Council as “whining”.
Lavrov chaired a meeting of the Council – convened by Russia as president of the 15-member body for July – on multilateral cooperation in the interests of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order.
“In order to contain Russia, China and other countries whose independent policies are seen as a challenge to its hegemony, the West is aggressively dismantling the global system that was originally built based on its models,” Lavrov said.
He said Washington demands from allies an “unquestioning obedience even to the detriment of their national interests”.
“Rule America – that is the essence of the notorious rules-based order, which is a direct threat to multilateralism and international law,” he added.
On the issue of international peace and security and global cooperation, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia “doesn’t take this matter seriously”, calling out Moscow for its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“As I listened to the Russian representative’s statement, I thought I was in the wrong room because this seemed to be a session whining about the United States and the West, and I hardly heard the word multilateralism mentioned,” she said.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward scoffed at Russia’s theme for the meeting as Moscow is “systematically bombing civilians in Ukraine in an unprovoked war of aggression and in flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter”.
“What is just about trying to annex another country’s land?” she said. “What is democratic about trying to subjugate another country’s people? What is sustainable about waging a war that has killed or injured over 500,000 of your own people?”
China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong said international order is based on international law.
“We often hear the talk about a rules-based international order by some countries. But what kind of rules are we talking about? And who are the rule makers? No one has given us a clear and precise answer,” he said.
He said a rules-based international order “advocated by some is really intended to create another system outside the existing system of international law and to seek legitimacy for double standards and exceptions”.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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