The West Continues Attempts to Undermine Russia's Cooperation with Other Countries, Lavrov Says

Western countries will not cease their attempts to obstruct Russia’s favorable cooperation with other states. According to the TASS agency, this was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a council meeting on foreign and defense policy.

“It is now clear to us that the goal of the West is to prevent us from creating favorable external conditions for Russia's internal development. Everything being done to restrain Russia pursues this objective. Attempts to undermine the external opportunities supporting Russia's development are likely to continue,” Lavrov said.

“If we take the Western models of development, there’s no place for engagement. The coronavirus, in my opinion, has convincingly demonstrated that we need to build something on our own. This is a very ambitious and complicated task, but also quite urgent,” the Russian minister emphasized.