Russia warns US sanctions could spell end to East-West relations
(Baonghean.vn) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on November 30 that by plotting to sabotage Russia's economy with sanctions, the US and its European satellite countries have ended cooperation between the East and the West.
Speaking at a meeting of the OSCE Council of Ministers in the capital Skopje (North Macedonia), Mr. Lavrov stated: “In an effort to sabotage the Russian economy, the United States and its European satellites have imposed thousands of sanctions against Russia, thereby ending the extensive practical cooperation between East and West in our once common region.” Foreign Minister Lavrov also accused the OSCE of becoming an “appendage” of NATO and the EU. He said: “The OSCE is essentially being turned into an appendage of NATO and the EU... Let's face it, this organization is on the brink of the abyss. A simple question arises: Does it make sense to invest in reviving the organization?”
In addition, Foreign Minister Lavrov added that in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the European Union (EU) continues to "play its assigned role responsibly", as the bloc sees all the negative impacts on its own economy but still abandons "all forms of economic cooperation" that once brought prosperity to EU member states.
“The EU has set aside the original goal of its creators, which was to improve the well-being of its member states, and in many ways has turned the efforts of the Brussels bureaucracy into an aggressive geopolitical project,” Lavrov stressed. Lavrov arrived in Skopje on the evening of November 29. This is his first visit to Europe since the start of Russia’s military campaign in neighboring Ukraine, excluding visits to Belarus and Türkiye.
The Russian foreign minister's last visit to Europe took place on January 21 last year, when he visited Geneva for talks with his US counterpart Antony Blinken.
