Fading western powers using sanctions, fear to halt rise of multipolar world: Russian FM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Western powers are resorting to sanctions, economic coercion, and political interference as their global dominance wanes and emerging powers reshape the international order.

Speaking with the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) on Wednesday, Russia’s top diplomat said the West’s increasingly hostile behaviour stems from its inability to maintain the privileged position it held after World War II.

“The financial and economic system led by the West after World War II can no longer function in a way that guarantees continued benefit for Western countries,” Lavrov said.

He added that states outside the Western bloc are now outperforming the very system designed by the United States and its allies, triggering “a manifestation of unfair and dishonest competition” through sanctions, asset seizures, and interventionist policies.

Lavrov said Western governments have extended these tactics into trade, technology, and even sports, where athletes from disfavored countries are barred from international events due to a growing “fear of competition.”

“This is a very serious issue. Fear of competition, which reflects the West’s awareness of its declining influence over global affairs, is clearly evident in these actions,” he added.

The foreign minister said the rise of China, India, Brazil, and several African nations has accelerated the collapse of old colonial and neo-colonial structures that long enriched Western economies at the expense of the Global South.

He stressed that the transition toward a multipolar world is not ideological rhetoric but an “objective” reality driven by shifting economic power.

Lavrov noted that institutions created after World War II, including the UN Security Council and the Bretton Woods system, no longer reflect global dynamics and must give greater representation to Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

He criticised Western governments for blocking these reforms to preserve an unjust balance of power, even as organisations such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ASEAN, and other regional blocs deepen cooperation and reduce reliance on the US dollar.

Lavrov described Russia and China as stabilising forces and defenders of the principles of the UN Charter, saying Moscow and Beijing emerged after World War II as “pillars of a new world order founded on the principles of the UN Charter.”

He accused Western powers of repeatedly violating the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference whenever it suits their geopolitical agenda.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov said Russia rejects Western attempts to reinterpret international law to justify the “necessary” adventures of their governments.

He concluded by pointing to the growing use of national currencies in trade, noting that Russia and China have shifted their bilateral commerce almost entirely to rubles and yuan, a trend he said is spreading across Eurasia, Latin America, and other regions seeking independence from Western financial control.

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