After destroying Libya, Syria, Iraq Others…

Western Nations 

Struggling To Give UP Hegemony, Says Russia’s FM Lavrov 

Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov has asserted that the West is struggling to give up the hegemony it enjoyed for half a millennium, hence its decision to impose its will on all others irrespective of existing practical concerns and realistic demands.    

According to him, after several centuries of imposing its will all over the world, it is now struggling to come to terms with accepting the reality and fact of becoming just another strong region in a multipolar world.

Speaking at the ‘Territory of Meanings’ forum last Monday, Lavrov contended that recent rhetoric by some Western nations and the silence of their elites gives cause for concern, as it exposes their double standards in global affairs.

He noted that after instigating aggression against Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yugoslavia, not forgetting Palestine and the recent assault on Iran, leading to their destruction, they have now turned to Ukraine, which war they instigated, behaving as though they care while abandoning the former to their fate.

“Many political scientists, academics, and experts seriously argue that a third world war is not just unavoidable, but is already underway in new forms, beginning with the West’s aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 followed by aggression against Iraq, the destruction of Libya, and the attack on Syria.

All these Middle Eastern countries are now in a state of turmoil.

The territorial integrity of Iraq, Syria, and Libya - something the West seems to care about only in the case of Ukraine - was gravely undermined during the Arab Spring in 2011.

These countries remain in a pretty bad shape.”

“Now, the West has turned to a neighbouring region, namely, the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories, more broadly. There has been an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

‘In Europe, the Ukraine issue represents the West’s policy of aiming to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia’, he asserted, insisting that, “They don’t hide the fact that they had been preparing for this for quite some time. With no shame, they are openly saying that the Minsk Agreements, which were designed to resolve all problems, were never meant to be implemented”.

The Russian Foreign Minister explained that after a painstaking attempt to put together the Minsk Agreement, the West abandoned it in an attempt to buy time for Ukraine to arm itself against Russia. 

“President Putin, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, then-French President François Hollande, and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put in 17 hours without sleep working on those agreements.

But afterwards, those very people who sat at one table with him admitted they never intended to implement anything.

They just needed to “put something on paper” to buy Ukraine time for it to prepare for war with Russia, and to flood it with weapons.

Those same people are now demanding that we immediately cease fire and leave things the way they are now, just so they can again buy time for their clients in Kiev and pump more weapons into Ukraine”, he remarked. 

He noted that the mere fact that Europeans genuinely seek to “defeat us (Russians)” is confirmed daily especially as the New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently stated that Germany must once again become the strongest military power in Europe since it was the strongest military power before World War I and before World War II, which it both started. 

“Now, he wants Germany to become “Europe’s top military force' again.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that if necessary, Germans would not hesitate to kill Russian soldiers. European elites are taking this rhetoric as a given.

This reflects, above all, the fact that the West cannot accept the fact of becoming just another strong region in a multipolar world. It cannot give up the hegemony it enjoyed for half a millennium.

This is visible especially clearly in Europe today, which wants to impose its will on everyone and ignore pragmatic concerns”, FM Sergey Lavrov stated.

According to him following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s new foreign policy has largely always been based exclusively on its national interests with no lecturing, and no forcing ideologically-driven approaches on its neighbours or partners, except that of only operating in strict compliance with the country’s conceptual documents, the Constitution and the Foreign Policy Concept of which their primary goal of the foreign policy is to ensure safe conditions for the country’s development and to raise the well-being of its citizens.

The Russian Foreign Minister praised United States (US) President Donald Trump over his resolve to broker peace in Ukraine based on dialogue insisting that mutual respect existed during the Cold War era and thus slammed the US’s European partners of going crazy in their bid to attempt to inflict “Strategic Defeat” against Russia with the unbridled provision of arms and technical support to Ukraine to kill Russian soldiers, politicians and journalists among others.

“It is also imperative to acknowledge that mutual respect existed during the Cold War.

Today, it is absent. Europe has simply gone berserk (I can think of no other word).

Much of this is, understandably, a struggle to retain power.

They realise they have invested hundreds of billions of euros into Ukraine solely to strike Russia, kill our soldiers, orchestrate terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure, and dispatch assassins to eliminate our politicians and journalists.

Europe pursues this with one objective – to use Ukrainians as cannon fodder to eliminate Russia as a competitor. Even better – to provoke centrifugal tendencies within our society”, he stated.

Mr. Lavrov indicated that Russia is now fighting the West alone for the first time in history and must rely solely on its own strength, indicating that the unprecedented geopolitical landscape Russia found itself in following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 has led to the current heated stand-off with the West.

”The main task is to defeat the enemy. For the first time in history, Russia is fighting alone against the entire West. In World War I and World War II, we had allies. Now we have no allies on the battlefield. So we must rely on ourselves and not allow any weakness,” he said.

Lavrov stressed that Russia will not back down from its core security demands, which led to the Ukraine conflict, saying, “We insist on what is our legitimate demand… no dragging Ukraine into NATO, no NATO expansion at all.

It has already expanded right up to our borders, contrary to all promises and documents that were adopted,” he said, adding that a settlement of the conflict should also recognise the new territorial reality on the ground as well as “A non-aligned, nuclear-free, neutral state of Ukraine.” 

Mr. Lavrov further indicated that those Russian-speaking Ukrainian regions that have formally been joined with Russia share cultural and historical ties that cannot be broken, saying, “When they (Ukraine) commenced the obliteration and eradication of everything Russian, we could not remain indifferent.

We attempted persuasion and negotiations – it yielded nothing. Hence, there was no alternative but to initiate the special military operation”.

“Territory is not our priority. Some assert: “They seized land; it must be liberated.”

These territories are not our concern – we already possess the largest country on earth.

What is paramount is the populace who have dwelled there for centuries – custodians of Russian culture, language, and education – who aspire to nurture their children within that heritage.

They must not be obliterated; their rights must be safeguarded.

This is an entirely lawful demand. Recognising the realities codified in our Constitution is an absolute, non-negotiable imperative. We have much work ahead”, he stated.

Moscow has said on a number of occasions that NATO expansion and Ukraine’s aspirations to join the US-led military bloc were among the key reasons for the conflict.

It has also warned that Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine only serve to prolong the hostilities without changing the outcome, while making NATO a direct party to the conflict.

This is the full text of the statement by Foreign Minister Lavrov at the ‘Territory of Meanings’ forum;

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s Remarks

Since the Soviet Union went into oblivion, Russia’s foreign policy has always been based exclusively on its national interests. No lecturing, and no forcing ideologically-driven approaches on our neighbours or partners, either.

We operate in strict compliance with our conceptual documents, the Constitution and the Foreign Policy Concept.

The primary goal of our foreign policy is to ensure safe conditions for the country’s development and to raise the well-being of our citizens.

Many political scientists, academics, and experts seriously argue that a third world war is not just unavoidable, but is already underway in new forms, beginning with the West’s aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 followed by aggression against Iraq, the destruction of Libya, and the attack on Syria.

All these Middle Eastern countries are now in a state of turmoil.

The territorial integrity of Iraq, Syria, and Libya - something the West seems to care about only in the case of Ukraine - was gravely undermined during the Arab Spring in 2011. These countries remain in a pretty bad shape.

Now, the West has turned to a neighbouring region, namely, the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories, more broadly. There has been an act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In Europe, the Ukraine issue represents the West’s policy of aiming to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia.

They don’t hide the fact that they have been preparing for this for quite some time.

With no shame, they are openly saying that the Minsk Agreements, which were designed to resolve all problems, were never meant to be implemented. President Putin, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, then-French President François Hollande, and then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put in 17 hours without sleep working on those agreements.

But afterwards, those very people who sat at one table with him admitted they never intended to implement anything.

They just needed to “put something on paper” to buy Ukraine time for it to prepare for war with Russia, and to flood it with weapons.

Those same people are now demanding that we immediately cease fire and leave things the way they are now, just so they can again buy time for their clients in Kiev and pump more weapons into Ukraine.

The fact that Europeans genuinely seek to “defeat us” is confirmed daily. New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently stated (I’m not sure he understood what he was saying) that Germany must once again become the strongest military power in Europe.

It was the strongest military power before World War I and before World War II and started both.

Now, he wants Germany to become “Europe’s top military force” again. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that if necessary, Germans would not hesitate to kill Russian soldiers.

European elites are taking this rhetoric as a given.

This reflects, above all, the fact that the West cannot accept the fact of becoming just another strong region in a multipolar world. It cannot give up the hegemony it enjoyed for half a millennium.

This is visible especially clearly in Europe today, which wants to impose its will on everyone and ignore pragmatic concerns.

The other day, President Donald Trump met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Afterwards, she proudly and gleefully announced that they had reached an agreement under which European goods would be exported to the United States with a 15-percent tariff, while US goods would go to Europe duty-free.

On top of that, Europe would spend $750 billion on buying American energy, primarily liquefied natural gas and nuclear fuel, completely abandoning Russian energy.

Furthermore, as President Trump stated, there would be $600 billion in new investment. No doubt, US energy will be much more expensive than Russian energy.

This approach will further de-industrialise Europe and redirect investment from Europe to the United States.

Sure enough, this decision packs a serious blow, especially in terms of energy prices and capital flight affecting European industry and agriculture.

But figures like Ursula von der Leyen are flaunting their decision to follow this course.

They admit they’ll have to spend more and that they’ll probably have fewer resources to address social issues, but claim

they must defeat Russia.

As Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently said, former US President Joe Biden once said in a conversation with him that Russia must be “destroyed.”

Not just strategically defeated, but destroyed. It’s about a war of annihilation. President Trump, though, holds a different view.

As he’s repeatedly stated, he is guided by common sense, primarily by business and policies that benefit the United States. I’m sure you are following his moves in international trade.

The deal with Europe is lopsided, and Europe got the short end of the stick.

There’s no need to dive deep into that. President Trump is a pragmatist. He does not want wars. Unlike his predecessor Joe Biden and current European elites (von der Leyen, Starmer, Macron, and their ilk), he is open to dialogue.

Even during the Cold War, dialogue was there and helped opposing camps better understand each other’s intentions, first and foremost, to prevent a major war.

Europe has lost that instinct, and the vaccine against Nazism has worn off.

The same forces that once sought to destroy Russia are now re-emerging in Europe and have chosen Ukraine as a battering ram that they use against us. They welcome everything it is doing.

European Commissioner for EU Enlargement Marta Kos affirmed a month ago that Ukraine had satisfied all prerequisites to commence accession negotiations with the European Union.

Has anyone heard even a whisper of criticism from Europe concerning Ukraine’s commitment to its human rights obligations? Language, education, media, culture – Russian has been legislatively proscribed across all these domains.

Furthermore, these laws began to be enacted long before the special military operation. Europe maintains that Ukraine is fighting for “European values.” French President Emmanuel Macron recently asserted that, unlike Russia, Ukraine is waging war for “our” interests, for “our European values.” This is an admission that they are all Nazis. Nazism is being resuscitated in Ukrainian society including through legislation. Obstacles are being dismantled to glorify Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich, who are equated with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and other war criminals, yet are now exalted as symbols of freedom.

We have consistently championed dialogue, even during the most challenging times. During the Cold War, dialogue between the Soviet Union and the United States was never severed.

It is also imperative to acknowledge that mutual respect existed during the Cold War.

Today, it is absent. Europe has simply gone berserk (I can think of no other word). Much of this is, understandably, a struggle to retain power.

They realise they have invested hundreds of billions of euros into Ukraine solely to strike Russia, kill our soldiers, orchestrate terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure, and dispatch assassins to eliminate our politicians and journalists. Europe pursues this with one objective – to use Ukrainians as cannon fodder to eliminate Russia as a competitor.

Even better – to provoke centrifugal tendencies within our society.

They actively engage in this despite measures taken by our leadership to curb the activities of foreign NGOs and dubious media outlets promoting not the values of dialogue between our nations’ youth or civil societies, but unequivocally a Western agenda.

The dialogue we maintain with Donald Trump’s administration demonstrates that reasonable voices still exist in the West. They command significant support, as evidenced by recent developments in the United States.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly affirmed our openness to dialogue with any nation, including European ones. When President Emmanuel Macron called our President, he responded immediately.

I do not want to divulge confidential details, but the conversation yielded little. Particularly because President Macron later publicly declared that pressure must be applied to Russia “to accept the immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”

He has long espoused this view. When first questioned, he was asked whether arms supplies to Ukraine would then cease. He replied no, insisting any ceasefire must be unconditional.

Therein lies the objective – just as the Minsk Agreements were meant to shake up the Nazi regime of Petr Poroshenko. Now, they seek a respite.

As I said, the West cannot accept the loss of its hegemony and continues to pursue purely neocolonial policies.

Their sanctions regime exists to suppress competitors, fearing their unimpeded development, because emerging power centres have already outpaced them.

Remove obstacles, and they will leave the West far behind.

Yes, the West retains strength in military affairs, technology, biotech, and cyber domains.

Yet it cannot merely be a significant player – it insists on supremacy. At the very least, this is the mentality of its current elites.

At the same time, a multipolar world is emerging – an objective and unstoppable process. No sanctions, trade wars, or provocations of open conflict can reverse it.

Despite this, the West continues to pursue such tactics, following its actions in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Iran.

Now, similar operations are being planned in the Far East, including the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and across Southeast and Northeast Asia, even the Korean Peninsula.

All of this aligns with their broader goal: to preserve global dominance and maintain their status as the hegemon.

The rise of a multipolar world will ultimately prevail, despite efforts to delay the natural course of history. We are supported by a wide network of partners, allies, and like-minded nations.

Among our closest allies in the West is the Republic of Belarus, while in the East, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea stands out, bound to us by decades of fraternal and military ties.

We supported our Korean neighbours in their struggle for independence, and in turn, they assisted us in liberating the Kursk Region from Ukrainian neo-Nazis. India also stands as a major and respected partner on the global stage.

India, China, Russia, Türkiye, and Iran are all ancient civilisations with deep historical roots spanning centuries.

They have endured and evolved as cohesive civilizational communities – something rarely seen elsewhere in the world. However, on the Eurasian continent, this continuity remains a defining feature.

Today, these great civilisations are playing a central role in shaping the emerging multipolar international order.

In practice, this shift is being advanced through organisations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS, and in collaboration with partners from the African Union and CELAC, all of whom are actively contributing to this global transformation.

Interest in cooperation with BRICS and the SCO – already demonstrated by dozens of countries – continues to grow, contributing to the establishment of sustainable frameworks for the development of the Global Majority.

In contrast, the West still relies on institutions created after World War II, such as the IMF and the World Bank, often using them to reinforce its dominance.

This includes exploiting the role of reserve currencies, especially the US dollar, and violating fundamental principles like fair competition and the presumption of innocence.

In response, the Global Majority has, over the past several years, been working through platforms like BRICS, the SCO, and others to build alternative systems for financial transactions and banking settlements.

New logistical routes are also being developed, independent of the outdated Western-centric rules established in the postwar period, when such systems were not yet so heavily abused.

These emerging alternatives are widely welcomed.

Western counterparts are now creating conditions that are driving more and more countries to distance themselves from the systems under their control.

I cannot fail to mention our closest circle of partners. Our allies, like-minded states, and strategic partners from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – these are all major frameworks whose activities align with the formation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership. This includes structures across the post-Soviet space, the SCO, ASEAN, and many other promising actors. Incidentally, Eurasia is the only continent without a pan-continental organisation.

Africa, despite its numerous sub-regional structures, has the African Union. Latin America, with its many integration blocs, has the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. But Eurasia lacks such a mechanism.

When President Vladimir Putin proposed back in 2015 at the Russia-ASEAN summit that these sub-regional integration processes be harmonised – ensuring mutual reinforcement, eliminating redundancies, and ultimately shaping this Greater Eurasian Partnership – the idea emerged organically.

This was no artificial initiative imposed from above. It is an objective necessity, one that meets the demands of mutual benefit, optimal resource efficiency, and maximising the advantages generated by these integrative processes.

In broader terms, this will form a solid material foundation for constructing a Eurasian security architecture. The current security frameworks – primarily those established in Europe after World War II, namely the OSCE and NATO – are rooted in the concept of Euro-Atlantic security.

That is, they inherently require transatlantic colleagues. Of course, those wishing to cooperate with the United States or Canada remain free to do so.

Yet why should there not be a pan-continental structure open to all continental nations?

Especially now, when President Donald Trump shows little enthusiasm for maintaining America’s special role in Europe.

He believes the continent should address its own challenges – whether security or economic development – on terms dictated by Washington to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Thus, the Eurasian security architecture is knocking at the door.

For the third consecutive year, Minsk hosted the International Conference on Eurasian Security (2023, 2024) where the Draft Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century was reviewed.

This document was prepared jointly with our Belarusian friends.

Participation in the first two conferences demonstrated genuine interest, including from certain European Union states.

I expect their numbers will grow.

Therefore, we have much work ahead.

The paramount task is to defeat the enemy.

For the first time in history, Russia stands alone against the entire West. In World War I and World War II, we had allies. Today, we have none on the battlefield. Thus, we must rely on ourselves. There is no room for weakness or wavering.

President Vladimir Putin has delineated the objectives we are pursuing on the international stage – primarily in terms of combat engagement. These objectives will be realised.

We underscore our legitimate demand: the assurance of our security.

Firstly, there must be no inclusion of Ukraine in NATO – indeed, no further expansion of the alliance whatsoever (it has already, in defiance of all promises and agreed documents, expanded right up to our borders).

Secondly, there persists the refrain: “Russia must return to the 1991 borders.”

Yet, in 1991, when Ukraine was recognised as an independent state, its foundational principle was enshrined in its Declaration of Independence, which explicitly stated: “A non-aligned, nuclear-free, neutral state.”

It was precisely on this basis that Ukraine’s territorial integrity was acknowledged.

When they commenced the obliteration and eradication of everything Russian, we could not remain indifferent.

We attempted persuasion and negotiations – it yielded nothing.

Hence, there was no alternative but to initiate the special military operation.

Territory is not our priority. Some assert: “They seized land; it must be liberated.”

These territories are not our concern – we already possess the largest country on earth.

What is paramount is the populace who have dwelled there for centuries – custodians of Russian culture, language, and education – who aspire to nurture their children within that heritage.

They must not be obliterated; their rights must be safeguarded.

This is an entirely lawful demand.

Recognising the realities codified in our Constitution is an absolute, non-negotiable imperative. We have much work ahead.