G20 excessive focus on Ukraine, total disregard for US crimes: Lavrov

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Mar 2023 20:31

This was the first time that G20 brings up global conflicts - in particular the Ukraine conflict - confirming the West's total disregard of past US war crimes.

In this handout photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov participates in the Raisina Dialogue conference on the sideline of the G20 foreign minister's meeting in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 3, 2023 (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

During a conference at the Raisina Dialogue conference in India on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the G20 New Delhi summit for Foreign Ministers was excessively focused on the Ukrainian crisis and completely overlooked previous crimes committed by the US government in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia - noting that none of these countries were mentioned once in final declarations.

"The entire G20 was only about what to do with Ukraine and the final declaration: can we have it or not. I asked the Indian friends and Indonesian friends, who were chairing the G20, and those who were chairing G20 before Indonesia: for all these long years whether G20 ever reflected in those declarations situation in Iraq, in Libya, in Afghanistan or in Yugoslavia," Lavrov said.

The Russian diplomat added that since its inception, the G20 has never brought up global conflicts, but rather concentrate on matters related to finance and macroeconomic policy, which are in fact the reasons why the summit was conceived.

"These days, when it's not something the West is doing, believing that it is right ... when Russia has, after many years of warnings, started to defend itself. There is nothing except Ukraine that is of interest to G20. It's a shame," Sergey said, noting that this policy is destined to fail.

During today's conference, Lavrov further said that "Russia will not allow Western countries to blow up any more gas pipelines," while also revealing Moscow's plans to rely on China and India, describing them as dependable partners for its energy policy.

#Russia will not allow the West to blow up any more gas pipelines: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking at the Raisina Dialogue forum in New Delhi on how the Ukraine crisis has affected Russia’s energy interests#UkraineWar #RussiaUkraineWar #Nordstream pic.twitter.com/yIbTBliaKS
— skadefron (@skadefron) March 3, 2023

“The war that we are trying to put an end to, and that was initiated against us using the Ukrainian people, of course, it has impacted Russian politics, including its energy policy. In short, what has changed is that we will no longer rely on any partners in the West," Lavrov said.