Putin, Lavrov look to shift global power dynamic

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, put on a full-court press on Wednesday, blaming the United States and the West for worldwide tensions, in what appears to be a reply to the recent G7 meeting in Hiroshima, and an attempt by Russia to ingratiate itself with China ahead a planned trip by Putin to China.

According to a report in Russia’s Izvestia, Putin told a meeting of an international security conference on Wednesday that “instability in the world is growing, new hotbeds of tension are emerging.” He spoke at the 11th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues, which began in the Moscow Region, on Wednesday. The overall message was an attempt to reach out to the global south and countries outside the West to encourage them to work with Russia to overturn the US-led world order that has existed since the end of the Cold War.

According to reports from the meeting and from Russian and Arabic media, Russia also said that US influence in the Middle East is declining. Russia’s intelligence service also slammed the US for its role at the Al-Tanf garrison (ATG) in Syria, according to Al-Jazeera.

Putin sees instability in the global system; for Moscow, this is an opportunity to reset the international system, challenging the US. Lavrov also reportedly said that “during the G-7 summit, the West showed both Russia and China as strategic enemies that pose an existential threat,” according to Al-Jazeera’s Arabic language service.

Lavrov slammed the West for supplying weapons to Ukraine, raised the threat of a clash with the West and referenced the fact that Russia has nuclear weapons. Russia frequently resorts to these threats when it feels pressured in Ukraine. “We call on Washington and Brussels to refrain from unilateral military decisions in order to reduce tension in the world,” Lavrov said, according to the report.

Russia also appears to be trying to side more with China in complaining about US support for Taiwan. Lavrov also noted that Russia withdrew from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe “because of its ineffectiveness and because of the actions of the United States.” Two weeks ago, reports noted that Russia was intending to withdraw from this treaty that is supposed to limit the number of weapons held by NATO countries and what were then Warsaw Pact countries when it was signed, in 1990.

Putin also blamed the US for provoking an energy and food crisis. He said that Russia is ready to cooperate with all countries interested in meeting common challenges.

Lavrov also told the meeting that “the collective West does not hide its intention to inflict a strategic defeat on us, as an anti-Russian battering ram they use the Kyiv regime, which is being pumped up with NATO weapons. At the same time, some Western supplies are spreading uncontrollably around the world.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s TASS noted that “The timeframe of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China is currently being coordinated by the sides, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told TASS.”

The report said that “there is an invitation, its timeframe and other details will be agreed upon later,” according to the Kremlin spokesman. “Chinese President Xi Jinping said earlier that he had invited Putin to China later in the year at a time convenient for him because this year, China will host the third international Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRFIC). The Russian head of state attended the first two BRFIC events.”