The comments made by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper regarding US’ successful “containment” of Russia and China has caused disappointment in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated.
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If the Pentagon chief believes that the containment of Russia and China is the foremost purpose of its agency, then this means that the same ideology is exercised by the current US administration, which is obsessed with a thirst of containing everyone but itself, seeking to erase everything that limits its freedom of action or even freedom, say, of impunity by the US administration on the global arena — be it the INF Treaty, the Treaty on Open Skies, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the activity of UNESCO, of the UN Human Rights Council or the World Health Organization, Lavrov said.
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This attitude and philosophy of the Pentagon chief is unfortunate because we are keen to promote a normal dialogue with all countries, including, of course, the US.
Having rebuked Mark Esper’s remarks, Lavrov went on to point out that the military usually “exhibits more cautiousness in situations that could lead to conflict, especially hot ones.”
“These days, in their dialogue with us, the US seeks to drop the very term ‘strategic stability’ and replace it with ‘strategic competition’,” he continued. “Therefore, this philosophy itself suggests that the Americans are preparing for conflict with any country that would seek to protect its interests. This is bad, bad for the US itself,” Lavrov cautioned.
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The top Russian minister speculated that, by adorning some threats from Russia and China, the US seeks to divert the American public’s attention from the current domestic discord that has been intensifying.
“Perhaps, election campaign concerns are playing their role, in addition to the fact that political points have to be scored,” he added. “However, this is sad if this is done by removing checks and balances on the global arena, or by giving various ventures free reign in order to win additional votes.”
“We would like any country to build its foreign policy, to set its priorities not on containing someone, but to ensure strategic stability based on a balance of interests of all nations, including, of course, the leading global powers,” Lavrov emphasised. “We promote dialogue, strategic stability, as proposed by President Putin, including within the structure of our initiative to call the UN Security Council permanent members summit.”
