As Lavrov told the Lenta.ru online newspaper, the West unleashed a hybrid war against Russia in 2014 and radically escalated it after the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine in 2022.

“Aggressive steps taken by hostile countries constitute an existential threat to Russia, without a doubt. We will have to defend our right to free and sovereign development by all means,” Lavrov stressed.

Russia will follow the concept of its foreign policy and avoid integrating into geopolitical and geoeconomic structures that do not allow it to protect its interests, and will try to contribute to the formation of a fairer international order, together with friendly countries, the minister said.

Lavrov also stressed that the new geopolitical structure must be based on the objectives and principles of the UN Charter, above all, on the principle of sovereign equality of States.

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