The West is using “colonialist methods” as it is exerting “unprecedented” pressure on developing countries to support Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Angola on Wednesday.
In a short statement to journalists at the end of an audience with Angolan President Joao Lourenço, Lavrov sent messages to the African country, a traditional ally of Russia, which has recently moved closer to the US and other countries, stressing that the West “can betray allies” from one moment to the next.
Lavrov welcomed “the very prolonged and consistent dialogue” with Lourenço, with whom he discussed bilateral relations in detail, noting the mutual intention to develop them in various areas
“And we will do it despite illegitimate pressure from the US and its partners,” stressed the head of Russian diplomacy, pointing out as the next task the preparation of the joint intergovernmental meeting for economic trade technical and scientific cooperation.
Besides the steps to be taken for the implementation of our strategic cooperation, Lavrov and Lourenço talked “quite a lot” about the current situation and “about the West’s support for the practices in Ukraine of imposing Nazism and the hybrid war that is developed against our country,” he declared.
“We presented our views based on our contacts that prove the unprecedented pressure on developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in this regard,” he criticised.
“As our own president [Putin] has said several times, the West is using the same colonialist methods it used in the old days to, in the same colonialist way, seize the assets of countries today,” the diplomat added.
Lavrov also said that “the West can from one moment to the next betray its allies”, as happened in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Serious and responsible countries see such behaviour very clearly and are ready to take measures to protect their interests, including in the financial field,” he stressed.
He noted in this regard, “very recent initiatives,” and the creation of their own currency for BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The issue will be discussed at the summit of this group at the end of August, in South Africa’s Durban, to which a group of African countries including the Angolan president will be invited, the Russian minister added.
According to the programme for the working visit in Angola, the Russian minister will also visit Dr António Agostinho Neto Memorial, as well as the tomb of former Angolan president, José Eduardo dos Santos, who died on 8 July last year.
Lavrov will then visit the national museum of military history and the embassy school of the Russian Federation before lunch.
Before meeting the Angolan head of state, Lavrov and his delegation met with his counterpart, Téte António.
(Raquel Rio | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
