Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday accused the current U.S. administration of trying to destabilize Eurasia.
Lavrov argued at the 31st Ministerial Council meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta’s capital of Valletta, that moves by Washington stemmed from the Biden administration’s movement of NATO infrastructure into the Asia-Pacific region.
He said “military blocs” are being created in the region and NATO has stepped up its participation in military exercises in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.
“It is an obvious attempt to destabilize the entire Eurasian continent,” he said. “We cannot allow a repeat of the tragedy of many countries in various regions from Afghanistan to Haiti, when Uncle Sam came, made a mess and then watched what happened, forcing others to clean up after themselves.”
Lavrov criticized the OSCE for “maintaining a deathly silence” regarding actions of the Ukrainian government, arguing there is “no room for either cooperation or security” within the organization.
He claimed that the U.S. and its allies have disregarded agreements on arms control to return NATO to the political forefront, and that the Cold War has been “reincarnated,” but risks transitioning into a “hot” conflict.
Lavrov also slammed the cancelation of Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova‘s visa to attend the summit, which was first declared in a statement by the ministry that was published Wednesday.
A spokesperson of the Maltese Foreign Ministry told the Times of Malta late Wednesday that Zakharova’s visa was withdrawn following the objection of three EU member states.
Lavrov arrived in Valletta overnight, marking his first visit to a EU country since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war more than 1,000 days ago.
The foreign minister’s participation at the meeting was met with protests, with multiple delegations leaving the room during his address, including Ukraine.