Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States of abandoning long-standing international diplomatic conventions and acting primarily to advance its own interests, with a specific focus on controlling global energy markets, in remarks broadcast on Friday.
In an interview aired by Russian state television and subsequently posted on the Foreign Ministry's website, Lavrov said U.S. behaviour in regions such as Latin America and the Middle East amounted to a rollback of international law. He framed Washington's approach as taking the international system "back to a world where nothing existed" in terms of legal constraints.
"The United States has officially declared that no one can dictate to it," Lavrov said in the interview. "It cares only about its own well-being and is ready to defend that well-being by any means - coups, kidnappings or assassinations of leaders of countries that possess natural resources the Americans need."
Lavrov named Venezuela and Iran when characterising U.S. priorities around oil, saying "our American colleagues do not hide that this is about oil. They have a doctrine of dominance in global energy markets." He tied these accusations to two incidents he alluded to in the interview: the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a January U.S. military operation and what he described as the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February.
On Europe, Lavrov said the United States had effectively "cut off" the continent by urging it to abandon the now-damaged Nord Stream pipeline that carried Russian gas to Germany. He also said Washington supported European Union measures intended to discourage Hungary and Slovakia from purchasing Russian gas.
"This is not an approach to international relations. It is an attempt to return to the colonial era," Lavrov said, condemning European policy as guided by "arrogance and contempt for others."
Lavrov further criticised U.S. involvement in discussions around a settlement to the four-year war in Ukraine, saying Washington emphasised the prospect of "huge economic opportunities" as part of its messaging. He characterised these developments as occurring in parallel with efforts he said were aimed at excluding Russia from global energy markets.
"At the same time, everything I just described is happening in parallel. We are being pushed out of all global energy markets," Lavrov said. He added that if Russia were willing to engage in mutually beneficial projects and supply what the United States sought, then U.S. conduct should also respect Russian interests, a standard he said has not been met so far.