Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed this week that Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine is meant to put an end to the US-dominated international world order, defending Russia’s self-claimed “special military operation” against Western criticism.
Lavrov made the comments on Russian state television on Monday.
“Our special military operation is meant to put an end to the unabashed expansion [of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization] and the unabashed drive towards full domination by the US and its Western subjects on the world stage,” Lavrov stated.
“This domination is built on gross violations of international law and under some rules, which they are now hyping so much and which they make up on a case-by-case basis,” the Kremlin spokesperson added.
Lavrov also criticized what he views as the US’ attempt to impose a “rules-based international order” on the rest of the world.
The comments were made within a greater discussion about the progress of peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, which have been ongoing since February but have yet to achieve much progress.
U.S. president Joe Biden’s “fatigue” and “forgetfulness” was invoked by Kremlin spokesperson Dimitriy Peskov in march in response to Biden’s claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin is a “war criminal.”
“Given such irritability from Mr. Biden, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness…fatigue that leads to aggressive statements, we will not make harsh assessments, so as to not cause more aggression,” Peskov noted.
The spokesman added, “We consider unacceptable and unforgivable such rhetoric of the head of state, whose bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”
Biden’s mental competence has been an oft-recurring concern over the course of his controversial presidency.
Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year after long standoff over the disputed Donbass region. Russia claims it launched a “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence, while Ukraine and the international community claim Russia’s invasion was completely unprovoked.
