OUT OF DESPAIR or delusion, the US government has been inventing new ways to destroy the Russian economy, but its attempts will fail, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said on Friday, commenting on another wave of anti-Russian sanctions.
‘Washington, once again, has ramped up its futile efforts to destroy the Russian economy. Either out of despair, or because of illusions, the US authorities fanatically invent new measures to harm our country,’ the Russian embassy quoted Antonov as saying on its Telegram channel.
The ambassador reiterated that Russia has already been under ‘thousands of illegal unilateral restrictions,’ which, however, have not been effective in causing the Russian economy to collapse.
‘Russia’s fast adaptation to new realities irritates our ill-wishers. Its inconvenience for the US government is confirmed not only by the Bretton Woods Institutions’ current estimates, but also by their future projections.
‘Even journalists close to the White House acknowledge with disappointment that the Russian economy stands firmly on its feet despite all the ‘‘blitzkrieg’’ attempts,’ the diplomat added.
Antonov went on to say that Russia ‘will never cease to defend its national interests while firmly upholding the principles of equality and indivisibility of security in international relations’.
‘It’s high time Washington realised that the spiral of sanctions will lead nowhere,’ he said.
The US expanded its anti-Russian sanctions on September 14, adding almost 70 individuals and 100 companies to its blacklists. According to the US administration, the new restrictions are aimed against Russia’s financial institution, defence industry and elites linked to them.
Meanwhile, Russia has become a magnet drawing all those who wish to confront the West’s parasitical ways, an endeavour in which the majority of countries stand ready to lend a hand, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said in an interview with the Razvedchik (Intelligence Officer) magazine.
‘Russia has become a centre of attraction for all those who are ready to oppose the parasitical practices of the West, because we are offering an alternative path,’ he said. According to him, the main contours of this path are outlined in the latest edition of Russia’s official Foreign Policy Concept.
Patrushev pointed out that Russia is open to cooperation with all constructively minded countries, and social and political forces that are ready to move forward together on the path of development and to lay the foundations for a new, truly democratic, multi-polar world order. ‘Most countries stand ready to cooperate in (moving) this trend (forward),’ he stressed.
According to the top security official, humanity has now entered a critical era, a new period in world history: ‘We are witnessing the final disintegration of the ‘‘Western-centric colonialist world order”, at the core of which is an inherently rapacious civilisational model.
‘Within the framework of this model, a narrow group of countries has built a pyramid, ensconced themselves at its pinnacle and self-endowed themselves with exceptional powers,’ he said. ‘In essence, we are dealing with a multi-level parasitical superstructure on a global scale.’
Patrushev highlighted the fact that the word ‘parasite’ translates from the Greek as ‘sponger’. ‘In ancient Greece, this was the name given to swindlers who preyed on the trust of wealthy fellow citizens and used cunning and guile, and often resorted to violence, to seize control over their (victims’) homes.
‘This is exactly how the Western powers have acted, ensuring their dominance and employing the most brutal and inhumane methods,’ he said.
Patrushev highlighted the fact that ‘the West does not recognise any (international meeting) formats that are organised without it taking the leading role, (nor does it recognise) bilateral and multilateral interaction based on equality (among nations) and international law.’
According to Patrushev, an example confirming the readiness of the majority of states to work toward developing a democratic, multi-polar world order was the first meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of Russia and Central Asia, which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 23.
‘The main issue was how to jointly combat the consequences of the West’s neo-colonial adventure in Afghanistan, which the Anglo-Saxons, with the direct participation of NATO, over the past 20 years have turned into a breeding ground for terrorism, drug trafficking, crime and extremist ideologies,’ the official said.
According to him, the experience of such forums shows that ‘the majority of the world’s countries are aware of the destructive nature of the global policy of the US and its satellites and how suicidal it is today to mindlessly submit to the West.’
Patrushev pointed out that, today, in public speeches by Russia’s partners, in bilateral negotiations, and in behind-the-scenes talks, ‘the same idea is being put forward,’ namely: the development of humanity directly depends on the strengthening of a multi-polar world and the preservation of traditional moral values.
- Cluster munitions are used by Ukraine in the widest possible way in the zone of the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while answering journalists’ questions during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Asked whether the Ukrainian side was now using cluster munitions on the battlefield, Putin replied: ‘They are being used, and in the widest possible way.
‘But I have already commented on this. I have nothing to add,’ he said.
The cluster munitions issue, he believes, ‘reflects perfectly what is happening in the world as a whole’.
‘What I mean is this: There is one country that thinks it is exceptional – the United States,’ Putin explained. ‘Even what it considers to be a crime, it takes the liberty of doing itself. In fact, the US is using cluster munitions in this case, with the Ukrainians’ hands,’ he pointed out.
Putin noted that Washington considered the use of such munitions as a crime, but at the same time ‘it feels free to do it, and this is the main problem of today’s international relations’.
He is certain that for this reason a vast majority of participants in international communication were working together with Russia for the creation of a multi-polar world, because almost no one is satisfied with such a state of affairs.
‘I say “almost” because even those countries which are allies of the United States, I assure you, do not like this situation, either. They don’t like being treated as backstage extras,’ Putin said.
‘Yes, they (the US) use (cluster munitions), unfortunately. They themselves call it a crime and keep doing it,’ Putin concluded.
This year, Ukraine received more than $1.8 billion in UN aid, which is one billion US dollars more than the organisation’s assistance to Afghanistan, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.
‘Remarkably, Ukraine still ranks first in terms of attracting donor attention. This year alone, the United Nations has already received $1.83 billion for humanitarian aid to Ukraine,’ he told the UN Security Council debate, headlined ‘Advancing public-private humanitarian partnership’.
‘This is $300 million more than what is requested to support the long-suffering population of Syria,’ the Russian diplomat continued. ‘That is $1 billion more than the aid to the ordinary people of Afghanistan, who have experienced first hand “experimental democratisation” by the United States and NATO.’
‘Many of these people, as we know, are desperate and have to sell their body organs, and some families have to sell children for money to be able to feed the rest of the family.
‘Some of our colleagues prefer not to talk about that,’ Nebenzya added.
‘I would particularly like to emphasise the situation in African states, where former colonial powers knowingly limited independent economic and agricultural development for decades.
‘Add to this neo-colonial tools that they use now and that exacerbates the dependent status of the said countries,’ the Russian Permanent Representative to the UN concluded.
