Lavrov says Russia is preparing for new US sabotage against its gas pipelines.
Recalling the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, at a G20 event, Sergei Lavrov assured that Russia is preparing measures to 'prevent the West from blowing up another gas pipeline'.
World Opera - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday (March 3) that his country is preparing measures to prevent further acts of sabotage by the United States and its European allies against its gas pipelines.
The statement, made at a press conference during the G20 foreign ministers' summit in New Delhi, the capital of India, was a response to a question about the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which occurred in July 2022. A recent report by American journalist Seymour Hersh accuses the governments of the United States and Norway of being behind the attack.
According to Lavrov, situations like the Nord Stream scandal demonstrate that the United States "acts not only to try to destroy Russia but also to make Europe a minor player [on the international stage] and eliminate its competitive advantage, cutting any kind of economic link between Russia and the European Union."
The Russian foreign minister emphasized that when Washington declares a country a threat to its national interests, the objective is to destroy that country. "It happened with Yugoslavia, Libya, Iraq, and Syria, and now it's Russia's turn."
'Circus' against Russia
During the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, Lavrov was incisive in accusing the United States of trying to use the event to gather more support for its smear campaign against Russia.
"I would like to apologize to the Indian presidency and colleagues from countries in the Global South for the improper behavior of several Western delegations who turned the work on the G20 agenda into a circus, attempting to shift responsibility for their failures in economic and other policies, primarily onto Russia," protested the Kremlin official.
Lavrov also accused the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of lending themselves to "the shameful role of provoking a 'degradation' of the principles of economic relations, and seeking to transform them into a geopolitical weapon."
Trusted and unreliable partners
According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the Kremlin will not trust "any Western partner, we will not allow another gas pipeline explosion, and we will take the necessary measures to ensure that this is the case."
The diplomat also assured that Moscow seeks to "strengthen relations with reliable partners" on issues related to energy policies, and implied that China and India, also members of BRICS [along with Brazil, South Africa and Russia itself], would be two of those partners.
Lavrov also used the press conference to reiterate his demand for a thorough investigation into who was responsible for the Nord Stream explosion. "We requested this investigation weeks ago, and ironically, it was rejected," the Foreign Minister quipped.