Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has slammed western countries saying that school children in a number of these countries are taught that Jesus is bisexual. In an article for Moscow daily Kommersant, he criticised the USA’s claim towards maintaining a ‘rules based international order’ as a ‘neo-colonial policy’ that seeks to establish western culture across the world.
Sergey Lavrov wrote, “Apart from encroaching on international law, the “rules” concept also manifests itself in attempts to encroach on the very human nature. In a number of Western countries, students learn at school that Jesus Christ was bisexual.”
“Attempts by reasonable politicians to shield the younger generation from aggressive LGBT propaganda are met with bellicose protests from the “enlightened Europe.” All world religions, the genetic code of the planet’s key civilisations, are under attack. The United States is at the forefront of state interference in church affairs, openly seeking to drive a wedge into the Orthodox world, whose values are viewed as a powerful spiritual obstacle for the liberal concept of boundless permissiveness,” he added.
It is pertinent to note here that Russia has banned homosexual propaganda aimed at children, for which they have received great criticism from western countries. However, Vladimir Putin maintains that children should be left in peace and allowed to grow up before they can make decisions about themselves without any inhibitions.
Russia against the “Rules Based International Order”
Lavrov said that “the West deliberately shies away from spelling out the rules it purports to follow, just as it refrains from explaining why they are needed.” He argued that the West was attempting its own rules across the world under the guise of a ‘rules based international order’.
He said further, “The beauty of these Western “rules” lies precisely in the fact that they lack any specific content. When someone acts against the will of the West, it immediately responds with a groundless claim that “the rules have been broken” (without bothering to present any evidence) and declares its “right to hold the perpetrators accountable.” The less specific they get, the freer their hand to carry on with the arbitrary practice of employing dirty tactics as a way to pressure competitors.”
Sergey Lavrov stated, “While proclaiming the “right” to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries for the sake of promoting democracy as it understands it, the West instantly loses all interest when we raise the prospect of making international relations more democratic, including renouncing arrogant behaviour and committing to abide by the universally recognised tenets of international law instead of “rules.””
He proceeded to add, “By expanding sanctions and other illegitimate coercive measures against sovereign states, the West promotes totalitarian rule in global affairs, assuming an imperial, neo-colonial stance in its relations with third countries. They are asked to adopt the democratic rule under the model of the Western choosing, and forget about democracy in international affairs, since someone will be deciding everything for them. All that is asked of these third countries is to keep quiet, or face reprisals.”
Lavrov also stated that “clear headed politicians” in Europe and USA are beginning to realise that “the world has more than just one civilisation” and that “there are other ways to govern that may be different from the Western approaches”.
He also highlighted the hypocrisy of the western establishment when it comes to principles of self-determination and democracy. He said, “The rules-based order is the embodiment of double standards. The right to self-determination is recognised as an absolute “rule” whenever it can be used to an advantage. This applies to the Malvinas Islands, or the Falklands, some 12,000 kilometres from Great Britain, to the remote former colonial territories Paris and London retain despite multiple UN resolutions and rulings by the International Court of Justice, as well as Kosovo, which obtained its “independence” in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.”
“However, if self-determination runs counter to the Western geopolitical interests, as it happened when the people of Crimea voted for reunification with Russia, this principle is cast aside, while condemning the free choice made by the people and punishing them with sanctions,” added Lavrov.
The age of multipolarity
The foreign minister of Russia also accused the USA of trying to establish itself as the only decision making center in the world through the NATO and its partnership with the European Union. “The multipolar world is becoming reality. Attempts to ignore this reality by asserting oneself as the only legitimate decision-making centre will hardly bring about solutions to real, rather than farfetched challenges,” he said.
Lavrov added, “This implies an unconditional commitment to abide by the universally accepted norms and principles of international law, including respecting the sovereign equality of states, non-interference in their domestic affairs, peaceful resolution of conflict, and the right to self-determination.”
He also stated, “Taken as a whole, the historical West dominated the world for five hundred years. However, there is no doubt that it now sees that this era is coming to a close, while clinging to the status it used to enjoy, and putting artificial brakes on the objective process consisting in the emergence of a polycentric world. This brought about an attempt to provide a conceptual underpinning to the new vision of multilateralism.”
The Foreign Minister also said that the UN Security Council must be reformed with the inclusion of more Asian, African and Latin American countries to end “the anomaly with the excessive representation of the West in the UN’s main body.”
Reservations against NATO
Sergey Lavrov also express Russia’s reservations against NATO’s expansion eastwards. He wrote, “While reflecting on linguistics, worldview, sentiment, and the way they vary from one nation or culture to another, it is worth recollecting how the West has been justifying NATO’s unreserved eastward expansion towards the Russian border. When we point to the assurances provided to the Soviet Union that this would not happen, we hear that these were merely spoken promises, and there were no documents signed to this effect.”
At another point, he stated, “Neither NATO, nor the EU intend to divert from their policy of subjugating other regions of the world, proclaiming a self-designated global messianic mission. The North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation is seeking to proactively contribute to America’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific Region, clearly targeted at containing China, and undermining ASEAN’s role in its decades-long efforts to build an inclusive cooperation architecture for Asia-Pacific.”
What it means: Russia and China versus the West
Through his words, Sergey Lavrov is essentially repeating points that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been making for quite some time. The arguments against NATO and US imperialism is consistent with the arguments made by Putin in the past.
The essential thing to note here is that there is clear indication of the growing ties between the Russia and China and it appears for certain that the partnership is here to stay. Furthermore, there is a not-so-subtle effort to strengthen their appear among those in the West who are sick and tired of the liberal hegemony and the Woke circus that has erupted.
Russia is positioning itself as a bastion of the traditional world at a time when ‘Woke culture’ in the West is facing severe resistance across the board. The emphasis on protecting children from LGBT propaganda and gender politics has widespread support among people in the West, especially conservatives in the United States.
A calculated effort is being made to cultivate an image of Russia that incites even more disenchantment with the ruling class of western countries, more than what already exists.
A lot of Russia’s grievances are, of course, legitimate. A lot of their criticism of the US sticks because they are true. Under the “rules based international order”, the West, and USA especially, has been funding terrorists in the Middle East and engaging in regime change operations, which have spelled catastrophe for countries such as Syria, Lybia and Iraq.
What is clear is that the West will have to contend with a resurgent Russia and aggressive China while combating with increasing disenchantment of their own populace with the ruling class.
