On Friday, the US vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire put forward by the United Arab Emirates and backed by more than 90 member states.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has blamed the United States for Israel’s ongoing war on the besieged Gaza, citing the vetoing of multiple UN Security Council resolutions aimed at bringing a ceasefire.
Interviewed by Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor, James Bays, in a conversation intended for broadcast at the Doha Forum on Sunday, Lavrov criticised the West’s influence over world order.
Questioning the effectiveness of US military interventions, Lavrov said that the West has burdened the rest of the world with severe challenges.
“The rules were never published nor even announced by anyone to anyone, and they are being applied depending on what exactly the West needs at a particular moment of modern history,” the Russian Foreign Minister said in a live recording at the Doha Forum.
“This is especially seen in various conflicts which the West ignites all over the world. Anything goes to keep the hegemony intervention in domestic affairs, sanctions against all the principles of competition, regime change,” Lavrov added.
With a diplomatic career spanning five decades, Lavrov advocated for the recognition of emerging organisations such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ASEAN, and the African Union in global power dynamics before condemning Israel for its collective punishment of Palestinians.
When asked if there is still hope for world diplomacy by Al Jazeera’s Bays, Lavrov expressed disappointment over the lack of support from the United States and Western countries but expressed a commitment to applying political pressure for humanitarian relief.
“Every, every coming, every passing hour we have introduced very soon after this tragedy started, we have introduced a resolution of the Security Council,” Lavrov told audiences at Doha Forum.
“It was blocked by the United States. Brazil introduced another resolution. It was also blocked by the United States. Then, the generals passed a resolution which was weaker than what we wanted in the Security Council because it provided not for a humanitarian ceasefire but rather for a humanitarian or humanitarian truce. But even that was not acceptable to the Americans and other Western countries, they did not support this resolution,” Lavrov said.
On Friday, the US vetoed a United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in Gaza.
The vote was issued after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said there would be dire consequences if the war continued.
