TOKYO (Agencies): Washington’s actions in the field of arms control indicate its desire to remove obstacles to its absolute military dominance in the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a “2+2” meeting between the Russian and Japanese foreign and defense ministers on Thursday.
“The fact that we are having our fourth ‘2+2’ meeting speaks of our mutual desire to take relations to a qualitatively new level, build confidence, look for opportunities to bring our stances on security issues closer together,” Lavrov pointed out. “We see security problems piling up in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world as a whole due to the fact that Western countries are trying to slow down or even reverse the objective process of shaping the polycentric world order.”
Russia’s top diplomat pointed to attempts to replace the supremacy of international law principle enshrined in the UN Charter by “some rules invented by Western counterparts adjusted to their interests.” “Particular risks are borne by the dismantling of arms control mechanisms that Washington began in order to remove obstacles to its absolute military dominance anywhere in the world,” Lavrov stressed.
“Just like the overwhelming majority of other countries, we are in favor of solving any international problems by exclusively political and diplomatic means. I hope that today we will discuss the pressing regional and global issues that concern both Russia and Japan keeping in mind the need to resolve any conflicts peacefully,” Lavrov added.
Also, Russia’s ambassador to the US on Thursday said a U.S. allegation that Moscow may be conducting banned nuclear tests was a calculated attempt to undermine nuclear arms control, Russian state television reported. The head of the U.S.’s Defense Intelligence Agency said on Wednesday that Russia may be conducting low-level nuclear testing that flouts the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which was negotiated in the 1990s.
“The U.S. allegations … look like a well-planned and directed attack not only and not so much on Russia as on the arms control regime, and on the entire architecture for strategic stability,” Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador, was quoted as saying by Vesti TV.
