West uses political blackmail, economic pressure, force to stop multipolar world – Lavrov at UNGA

World trade requires a balance of interests, but this area is currently politicized to an unprecedented level. Free trade is hostage to trade wars and other forms of unfair competition.

"Cybersecurity and abuse of cyberspace has come to the forefront of the discussion. Two decades ago Russia suggested that a UN-backed agreement is needed for cyberspace, which would endorse non-use of force, non-interference in sovereign affairs and other principles" he said adding that an international convention on fighting cybercrime is also necessary.

The chemical weapons watchdog has been undermined by attempts by Western nations to turn the OPCW into a tool of punishment of countries they don’t like. OPCW needs to retain its universal and independent status, Lavrov stated.

Russia believes that any concerns and problems in international relations must be resolved through substantiate dialogue. "We must talk about facts and hear counterarguments of our partners, seek a balance of interests,' he said. 

Russia welcomes the progress with the Korean conflict, which goes along the suggestions that Russia and China have backed. Seoul and Pyongyang need encouragement from the UN Security Council, Lavrov said. 

Korean denuclearization is only part of a global fight against weapons of mass destruction, he added.  This effort has stalled and even reversed due to US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, which went against a UNSC resolution, he stated adding  that Iran on its part holds its part of the bargain.

This year the world marks the 80th anniversary of the Munich betrayal, the reminder of how "national egoism and attempts to solve one nation’s problems at the expense of another can lead to gravest consequences," he said. 

Unfortunately, there is a trend to rewrite history and whitewash the crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators in some nations, he stated. Russia calls on the UN General Assembly to support a resolution denouncing glorification of Nazism, he said. 

Radical nationalism and neo-Nazism is on the rise in Ukraine, which declared war criminals their national heroes, he said adding that this is one of the reasons why the civil conflict there continues. Ukraine must implement its part of the Minsk agreements and not imagine that some West-backed occupational force would return the eastern part held by rebels under their control, he concluded. 

Lavrov said that Russia is similarly supporting diplomatic efforts in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict and call on other nations not to try to monopolize them. 

Lavrov said that accusations by some Western nations need no better basis that saying it is ‘highly likely’. Lessons of the history have not been learned, he added. 

Similar false pretexts were used to attack Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya and a fabricated claim was used to attack Syria this year. he said.

The 7-year-old war in Syria is a failed attempt of regime change with the help of extremists shipped from outside the country, which almost turned it into a terrorist caliphate, he continued adding that Russia helped turn the tide in Syria with military assistance and diplomatic support. The progress in finding a political resolution of Syrian domestic problems is underway, he said. 

The world is paying a high price for the ambitions of the few. he continued. Collective security mechanisms fail, he said. 

Diplomacy gets replaced with dictate, unilateral restrictions and exterritorial sanctions, he added. These measures are not only affecting dozens of nations, but also prove to be ineffective in reaching their stated goals, as evidenced by the 50-year-long trade blockade of Cuba by the US, he continued.

Lavrov said that Western nations claim they want a rules-based order, but they invent those rules as they go, as required by their interests.

"They accuse others of meddling in their affairs while openly toppling foreign democratically elected governments. Drag nations into their military alliances while ordering others who they should and should chose as allies."