Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov on Friday trashed accusations of Russian meddling abroad as “baseless” and used the podium at the UN’s biggest event to tear into US policies in Iran, Syria and Venezuela.
He later said that US-Russian relations “are bad and probably at their all-time low.”
In a rapid-fire speech, Lavrov pounded away at “self-serving” unilateral moves by US President Donald Trump and assailed crippling Western sanctions against Russia as “political blackmail.”
Lavrov deflected accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, a nerve agent attack in Britain and other meddling abroad — despite mounting evidence of a broad, coordinated influence campaign.
He criticized “baseless accusations of interference in the internal affairs of certain countries” and turned it around against the West, accusing unnamed forces of “overt endeavors to undermine democratically elected governments,” in an apparent reference to US and EU support for Russia’s neighbors and the Syrian opposition.
He expanded on that at a news conference later, giving examples of US interference that included the US envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volcker, promoting efforts to replace the 2015 agreement reached by leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany to end the violence in eastern Ukraine.
He also cited the case of Maria Butina, who has pleaded not guilty to US charges that she tried to infiltrate US political organizations as a covert Russian agent.
Russia has called her jailing “preposterous.”
During his UN speech, Lavrov was particularly angry over US and EU sanctions over Russia’s actions abroad, saying: “We see the desire of several Western nations to preserve their self-proclaimed status as world leaders ... and do not hesitate to use any methods including political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force.”
He defended the 2015 deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program and said that “we will do everything possible” to preserve it.
Lavrov called Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal part of a dangerous trend of unilateral measures that risk damaging the post-World War II world order.
Later, at the news conference, he welcomed Monday’s agreement by the five powers still supporting the nuclear agreement — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — to establish a financing facility in the EU to facilitate doing business with Iran, a key part of the deal which is threatened by US sanctions.
“All avenues, all ways are being discussed for Iran to receive what was promised by the [UN] Security Council,” he said, including a barter system for oil.
Lavrov defended the UN — where Russia holds veto power on the Security Council — as the only legitimate place to resolve international issues and disputes.
Russia is framing itself as a counterweight to US power around the world, and Lavrov has been maneuvering in talks at the UN this week to shape the future of Syria, influence nonproliferation negotiations with North Korea and bolster Venezuela’s embattled president.
Lavrov on Friday met with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Walid al-Moallem at the UN.
Russia is rebuilding trade and military ties with Syria as it looks to a postwar future.
While tensions linger over the last rebel stronghold of Idlib, Russia is determined to keep Syria solidly anchored in its sphere of influence over the long term as a foothold in the Middle East and as a warning to the US and its allies against interference.
Lavrov also told the news conference that talks have begun between US national security adviser John Bolton and his Russian counterpart who are planning their third meeting since June.
He said this was at least an effort to maintain relations and “to roll back and lower” tensions.
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