The government of US President Donald Trump holds both the international system based on the United Nations and the so-called “rule-based order” in disfavor and is likely to test their limits, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The US and its allies have never adhered to the principles of equality of states enshrined in the UN Charter and believe that the agreements of Yalta and Potsdam were contrary to their interests, Lavrov wrote in a guest article published in the journal Russia in Global Affairs on Tuesday.
The agreements, signed in 1945 by the leaders of the victorious powers of World War II – the Soviet Union, the US and the United Kingdom – shaped the post-war world.
“The West has apparently joined these principles with a hidden agenda and then grossly violated them in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine” emphasized Lavrov. Yet, the UN Charter must not be given up, lest the world lose its common guiding principles, he added.
Despite its flaws and strengths, “the Yalta-Potsdam order has for eight decades formed the normative-legal framework for the international system” Lavrov highlighted. “The UN-based world order has fulfilled its main task – it has preserved all from a new world war” the top diplomat emphasized.
The new Trump administration, however, has openly declared that the framework is not only outdated but also “unwanted” and allegedly violates the interests of the US, according to Lavrov.
“In other words, not only the Yalta-Potsdam order is unwanted, but also the ‘rule-based order’ which seemed to embody the egoism and arrogance of the Western world led by the US after the Cold War” the diplomat added.
As the world is moving towards multipolarity, the US will likely test the post-war order in the coming years, Lavrov forecast.
“It seems that the new US administration will start cowboy actions to test the limits and the durability of the existing UN-centered system against US interests” he said.
Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that “the global post-war order is not only outdated but also used as a weapon against us.” Dictators sow chaos and “hide behind their veto power in the UN Security Council” he claimed.
Lavrov emphasized that the veto power in the UN Security Council, held by the permanent members Russia, China, the US, the UK and France, is a responsibility, not a privilege and that the Council can thus ensure that Western states take into account the interests of all countries.
Last year, the top diplomat said that Russia would welcome the expansion of the UN Security Council with the addition of permanent members with veto power, such as Brazil, India and African representatives, as they are part of the global majority.