Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the United States of hypocrisy after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Russia should not be allowed to escape punishment for waging war in Ukraine, during a security forum they both attended in New Delhi on Friday. The Russian and American officials participated in a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in the Indian capital this week and met face-to-face for the first time since Russian troops invaded Ukraine a year ago.
Blinken informed the Raisina Dialogue on Strategic Affairs, "If we allow Russia to get away with what it is doing in Ukraine, that sends a message to others who might consider aggression that they, too, might get away with it."
In his remarks following Blinken at the same forum, Lavrov stated that holding Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine is done "with double standards" while the U.S. has justified military interventions in various parts of the world, such as in Iraq, airstrikes in Libya, and the bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, based on its "national interests."
Lavrov also mentioned that the question of when Russia would negotiate to end the war should be directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He added, "Everyone is asking when Russia will negotiate... the West keeps saying it is not time for negotiations yet because Ukraine must win the battle first."
The Russian minister went on to accuse Washington of attempting to militarize the Quad security dialogue, a partnership between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan focused on strategic issues in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Earlier in the day, Blinken met with his Quad counterparts, issuing a statement saying that "the use or threat of nuclear weapons is unacceptable."
