Russia under no illusion it could ever rely on West again: Lavrov

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the Kremlin is now well aware of the fact that it can never rely on the West.

“If there was any illusion that we could one day rely on our Western partners, this illusion is no longer there,” Lavrov told RT English television on Friday. “We will now have to rely only on ourselves and on our allies who stay with us.”

The Russian foreign minister said Moscow was not “closing the door on the West - they are doing so.”

He said when tension calms down and the Western governments “come back to their senses, and when this door is reopened… we will be going into cooperation with them knowing very well that we cannot be sure that they are reliable.”

Lavrov’s remarks echoed those of President Vladimir Putin, who said the post-1991 era of Russian history has come to an end and that from now on Moscow will look to China, India and, increasingly, inwards.

Russia subjected to ‘info-terrorism’

The Russian foreign minister also said Russia is being subject to “info-terrorism” by its opponents amid the conflict in Ukraine. He said the West had encouraged Ukraine to foster an “anti-Russia” attitude and now its leader is trying to provoke US President Joe Biden into going to war for Kiev.

Under pressure from Washington, Western governments have imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia since it launched the campaign in Ukraine on February 24.

'It will put us at war with Russia': US rules out no-fly zone over Ukraine

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has denied any plans to impose a no-fly zone (NFZ) over Ukraine, arguing that any such attempt could spark an all-out war between the world

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been trying to put pressure on the Biden administration to escalate tensions with Russia by establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Biden and his advisors have rejected the idea of a NATO-enforced no-fly zone, arguing that the policy would lead to direct combat between the US and Russia.

Lavrov said Biden is an experienced politician who realizes the dire consequences of such policies.

‘West dominated by US’

The Russian diplomat said the reaction by the US and its Western allies to the military conflict in Ukraine had illustrated that the West was completely dominated by the United States and that the European Union (EU) was largely powerless.

The foreign minister said what Washington wants “is a unipolar world which would not be like a global village but like an American village.” But there are countries like China, India, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, Lavrov added, “who would never accept a global village under the American sheriff.”

Russia's military operation in Ukraine spurs European demand for US weaponry

Feeling increasingly unnerved by Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, many European countries have turned to the United States with a bucket list of arms, according to a report.

It is not the first time the West is imposing sanctions on Russia. In 2014, Washington and its European allies took a similar measure when then Ukrainian territory of Crimea voted in a referendum to rejoin the Russian Federation.

Now the US and its European allies have also adopted sanctions that largely cut Russia off financially from the rest of the world. The Biden administration also banned President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov from entering the United States.

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