Lavrov Addresses UN General Assembly, Criticizes West, Discusses Ukraine, Middle East, and UN Reform

UNITED NATIONS, September 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed the general debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, touching on Ukraine, the West’s Russophobic and destructive policies, the Middle East and UN reform. He later held a press conference, answering questions from journalists. TASS has compiled his key statements.

Unpredictability and adventures of the West

- As Lavrov said, "the West increasingly resorts to brute force as it acts unpredictably and recklessly, jeopardizing the life and wellbeing of millions if not billions of people on our planet."

- According to the minister, the West dreams of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, while Europe is preparing for war with Russia. "They confirm every day that Europeans should be ready for war by 2030 at the latest," he said.

- According to Lavrov, "pursuing the utopian goal of containing Russia, the West destroyed the European security system with its own hands and fostered the Russophobic regime in Kiev."

- Moreover, "judging by statements from their representatives, the ruling elites of many European Union countries are clearly infected with the virus of racial superiority -- they are harboring extremist, Russophobic ideas and indulging the leaders of the Ukrainian regime when they honor in Kiev notorious war criminals and Nazi collaborators whose hands are stained with the blood of Russians, Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians and people of other nationalities."

- Lavrov recalled that almost the entire West votes annually against Russia’s resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism: "Metastases of this inhumane ideology can now be seen in other countries on our continent, primarily among EU and NATO members, in the Baltic countries and in Germany as well"

- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he learned nothing new from German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s remarks at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as he fully repeated Berlin’s longstanding position: "I asked him to set out what he had come in with. He took out his notes and read a text that fully reproduced what Germany, through its leaders, officially and publicly says every day. I learned nothing new from it."

Ukraine

-Lavrov stressed that Moscow does not suffer from a lack of trust in the context of the Ukraine negotiation track, but continues to insist that "one must prove that one is capable of reaching agreements and prove that one can be trusted," while Kiev has failed to do so, encouraged by Western representatives.

- According to the Russian foreign minister, "Europe is making every effort to hamper a peace settlement and disrupt potential negotiations being sought by the [US President Donald] Trump administration, among other players. The West is pumping the Ukrainian regime with weapons as it also helps Kiev to target drones and missiles at civilians and civilian infrastructure."

- Ukraine is solely responsible for damage to shipping in the Black Sea, including damage to Western commercial companies: "Name at least one case when commercial vessels operating in your (Western -- TASS) interests have been targeted by Russian strikes. That is where the conversation ends. There are no such cases."

Middle East crisis

- Lavrov said that "the UN and all of us, the member states, need to take urgent unconventional steps to reverse negative trends in the Middle East and neighboring areas. This concerns not only Palestine, but also Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan and other African countries where conflicts are raging."

- Speaking about the situation around the Strait of Hormuz, Lavrov said that Russia views "establishing trust in relations between the coastal [Persian] Gulf states -- Arab nations and Iran -- as a precondition for resolving the [Hormuz] crisis."

- Lavrov said Russia’s concept for collective security in the Persian Gulf aims "to build a sustainable regional architecture." Russia, together with other "responsible countries," is ready to make a "constructive contribution" to stabilizing the strategically important Middle East.

- The minister recalled that almost a year ago, the UN Security Council approved a Washington-backed peace plan for the Gaza Strip, but peace has still not been achieved and the humanitarian situation remains critical.

- According to him, Russia believes that "the time has come to address the main issue in the Middle East, namely ensuring Palestinian statehood based on numerous UN decisions."

Adapting the UN to new realities

- Western countries are "overrepresented" on the UN Security Council, which should be expanded to include more representatives from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while Moscow cannot allow any new "Western seats": "We cannot provide for or allow any new 'Western seats, ' because the West is already overrepresented," Lavrov stressed, adding that reform must not include additional seats for Western countries, "especially Germany and Japan, which have embarked on a path of militarization and revanchism."

- He reiterated support for permanent seats for Brazil and India while meeting Africa’s interests in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration.

- Russia expects "that the new Secretary-General whom we should elect between the end of this year will <…> represent the entire international community, rather than serve the interests of separate countries, and refrain from undermining the intergovernmental nature of the UN system or the prerogatives of the [UN] Security Council and its permanent members." Lavrov said several candidates for the post have the necessary qualities.

- Speaking about the current UN Secretariat headed by Antonio Guterres, Lavrov said it "is unable to implement the key requirements of this document, which underpins the entire UN. It promotes biased approaches and double standards, essentially serving a group of Western countries," Lavrov said, noting that seven or eight of the most important positions in the UN Secretariat are held by citizens or nationals of NATO countries.

- Moscow, Lavrov stressed, wants "the United Nations to truly become a center for coordinating the interests of all states, as required by its Charter."