US always puts interests over principles, Lavrov tells RT

26 Jun, 2023 12:46 / Updated 1 year ago
Moscow’s top diplomat blasted Washington’s bias, stating that it was obvious amid last week’s attempted insurrection in Russia

The US’ goal in any situation is to secure profit for itself and it readily goes against its stated principles when it sees an opportunity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told RT on Monday, commenting on Washington’s reaction to the aborted mutiny in the country last weekend.

US media have claimed that the US opted to postpone planned sanctions against the private military company Wagner Group, whose leader Evgeny Prigozhin tried to use the force to oust senior Russian Generals on Saturday. The US wanted to avoid the optics that it was siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the turmoil, the reports said.

“This is just another piece of evidence that the US position depends on what it wants from every particular player, be it on the international arena or in some particular nation,” Lavrov said about the reports.

“The US has repeatedly shown bias and vested interests regarding the Ukrainian conflict,” he added. “They are the ones waging a war against Russia with Ukrainian hands, after all.”

The much-touted “rules-based order” that Washington wants to impose on the world is merely a mechanism for securing US interests, the minister added. These ‘rules’ have “nothing to do with either international law or with the laws of any nation, including Western ones,” he proposed

Lavrov cited the whitewashing of the right-wing Ukrainian nationalist unit Azov as an example of Washington’s approach. The US Congress branded it a terrorist group that is unfit to receive American military assistance, before the hostilities in Ukraine erupted last year, he pointed out.

“All that is now forgotten. They have rehabilitated Azov,” Lavrov said.

Members of the unit have been receiving heroes’ welcomes in the US, with former and serving US officials serving as their cheerleaders. For example, ex-US Ambassador to Moscow Michal McFaul welcomed Azov fighters at prestigious Stanford University last October.